Prison officer gives birth to murderer's baby after sordid affair

Former prison officer Kerianne Stephens gave birth to a child she conceived with a convicted murderer that she was guarding while working at HMP Swaleside on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent.

The father, Louis Tate, is in prison for a hit-and-run which resulted in the death of a man in Edgware, north London. The 35-year-old was sentenced to a minimum 18-year tariff way back in October 2010.

He later started an affair with Stephens, who gave birth to their daughter in June 2019. Their affair came to light in October 2018 after a fellow inmate overheard Tate talking about a phone and a certain Ms. Kerianne. His cell was searched and an iPhone 6 was found hidden in his sock drawer. The mobile phone later revealed details about the affair with the 26-year-old prison officer.

Stephens was then arrested before she revealed that she was three months pregnant with Tate's child. The evidence showed that the pair illegally exchanged calls and messages using the seized phone. Tate had allegedly also been using the device to communicate with other individuals outside the prison.

According to The Sun, Judge Philip Statman heard the case wherein Stephens pleaded guilty to misconduct in a public office at the category B jail between September 1 2018 and January 8 2019. Stephens was reprimanded by the judge at length for overstepping the boundaries and for the grave misconduct committed while on duty.

Apart from that, the former jail guard was also charged with "unauthorised transmission of image or sound by electronic communication." Both she and Tate pleaded guilty to the offence.

Stephens was sentenced to a 16-month jail term suspended for two years and was ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement. Meanwhile, Tate will serve a 10-month jail term concurrently with his current life sentence and will remain at the category C prison at The Mount in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.