EXCLUSIVE
One of two young female prison workers accused of having illicit relationships with inmates is the daughter of a decorated senior prison official.
Jessica Jade Elguindy was arrested at her home in Spring Farm, in Sydney’s southwest, last Friday and taken to nearby Narellan police station.
The 25-year-old was charged with entering into a relationship with an inmate that creates a security risk, accessing/modifying restricted computer data and misconduct as a public office holder.
Elguindy is an administrative assistant with Corrective Services NSW and, according to an online profile, has been employed by the department for the past six years.
His father, Walid ‘Wally’ Elguindy, has worked in the prison system for 30 years and is director general of strategic population management.
Prison employee Jessica Jade Elguindy has been charged with entering into a relationship with an inmate that creates a security risk, accessing/modifying computer data, and misconduct as a public office holder.
Two years ago he was awarded the Australian Correctional Medal, the highest honor awarded specifically to prison staff, in the Australia Day Honors List.
“Mr. Elguindy’s work is essential to the good order of the state’s prison network,” a background note provided to the media said at the time.
When contacted by WhatsNew2Day Australia, Elguindy said he was not in a position to comment on his daughter’s circumstances.
“I have nothing to say at this time in relation to that,” Mr Elguindy said. “It’s a difficult time and there’s nothing I can say right now.”
Detectives from the New South Wales Police Corrective Services Investigation Unit began an investigation into Jessica Elguindy in January.
Investigators had received reports of an allegedly inappropriate relationship between Elguindy and an inmate at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Center in Sydney’s northwest.
During the course of those investigations, another jail employee, Amber Clavell, 25, was discovered to be engaging in similar conduct at the same jail.
Clavell was arrested in jail on April 23, taken to Penrith police station and granted bail after being charged with five criminal charges.
Jessica Elguindy’s father, Walid ‘Wally’ Elguindy, has worked in the prison system for 30 years and is general manager of strategic population management for the New South Wales Correctional Services.
She is charged with entering into a relationship with an inmate causing a security risk, bringing a prohibited drug into a prison, supplying a prohibited drug and two counts of accessing/modifying restricted computer data.
The next day, police arrested two inmates aged 27 and 30 at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Center and charged them with using or possessing a mobile phone in prison.
The Australian newspaper reported that images taken with a contraband phone that are relevant to the investigation have been circulating in the prison.
The Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Center in Berkshire Park is a minimum security facility for men and part of the Francis Greenway Correctional Complex.
The complex’s other prisons are the medium-security John Morony Correctional Facility for men and the maximum-security Dillwynia Correctional Facility for women.
Last month, Kevin Corcoran was fired from his position as Commissioner of Correctional Services after an investigation into an officer who had been raping female inmates at Dillwynia for five years.
Investigators had received reports of an allegedly inappropriate relationship between Elguindy (above) and an inmate at the Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Center in Sydney’s northwest.
Wayne Astill was arrested in 2019 for the sexual assault of 14 female prisoners and ultimately jailed for a maximum of 23 years.
Corcoran was found to have failed to adequately fulfill his responsibilities, having approved the appointment of Dillwynia’s governor despite his concerns about her management.
Under Elguindy’s bail conditions, she must not contact Clavell or approach the NSW prison without the approval of the director of custodial services.
Clavell must not have any contact with prosecution witnesses or alleged accomplices and faces the same restrictions on attending prisons.
A NSW Correctional Services spokesperson said the department was aware that two staff members had been charged with various offences.
“As the matter is before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further,” the spokesperson said.
The Geoffrey Pearce Correctional Center (above) in Berkshire Park is a minimum security facility for men and part of the Francis Greenway Correctional Complex.
Notes provided when Mr Elguindy received the Australian Correctional Medal praise the officer for his work as head of strategic population management.
“Mr Elguindy leads a team of five who actively manage the flow and placement of cohorts of inmates into prison beds across the NSW correctional facility network, appropriate to their security risk, classification and gender.” “, state the notes.
‘The CSNSW Executive Committee relies heavily on Mr Elguindy to provide crucial information to ensure that the vital needs of the prison system are met, that staff and prisoners are always safe and that operational requirements are always met.
“He remains calm and methodical in confrontational situations, while taking into account the well-being of the inmates in his care and balancing the ever-evolving needs of CSNSW.”
Clavell and Elguindy are due to appear at Penrith Local Court on May 15 and May 29 respectively. The inmates will face the same court on June 5.
