Ruth Shmylo: Prison officer found not guilty of misconduct after inmate 'phone sex'
Ruth Shmylo, 26, denied the charge of misconduct in a public office. The jury at Cardiff Crown Court returned a not guilty verdict.
Thursday 21 December 2023 15:20, UK
A prison officer accused of having an intimate relationship with an inmate has been found not guilty of misconduct in a public office.
Ruth Shmylo, 26, who was a prison officer at HMP Parc in Bridgend, denied the charge against her.
The jury at Cardiff Crown Court returned a not-guilty verdict today.
During the trial, she said what the prosecution described as "phone sex" with Harri Pullen was sexual harassment.
"The first time, when I came to be aware that Harri was masturbating when I was on the phone, I asked him to stop. I repeatedly asked him to stop," the court heard.
"I perceived to be sexual harassment, he perceives to be phone sex," she said.
"I cried, I asked him to stop. That's what I did."
The prosecution questioned why Ms Shmylo could be heard laughing during several of the phone conversations with Pullen that were heard by the jury.
Ms Shmylo said it was an "uncomfortable laugh" and the "alternative to a light-hearted conversation [was] him threatening to kill me".
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The jury heard Ms Shmylo at one point told Pullen she was moving to Australia, but that "didn't deter him at all".
Ms Shmylo also denied giving Pullen a "cwtch" (a hug).
She told the court Pullen's grandmother had died and he "quite literally fell into [her] arms, grief-stricken".
"His perception of that is that it was a cwtch," she added.