--- description: Mitchell agreed to be the getaway driver but backed out because she still loved her husband, prosecutors say title: New York Prison Worker Had 'Sexual Incident' With Escapee image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf65d31cc6f1e5b52/69885486524fc0353edf31cb/joyce-mitchell1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # New York Prison Worker Had 'Sexual Incident' With Escapee by [Alastair Jamieson / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Alastair Jamieson / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2015 4:17 PM CUT  Joyce Mitchell appears before Judge Buck Rogers in Plattsburgh City Court in Plattsburgh, New York, June 15, 2015 Joyce Mitchell appears before Judge Buck Rogers in Plattsburgh City Court in Plattsburgh, New York, June 15, 2015Andrew Burton — Getty Images by [Alastair Jamieson / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Alastair Jamieson / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2015 4:17 PM CUT Joyce Mitchell, the prison worker accused of helping two inmates escape in upstate New York, was investigated for a prior sexual incident with escapee David Sweat, sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News. After the incident, which was investigated by prison officials, the other escapee, Richard Matt, charmed himself into her affection — so much that she “thought it was love,” sources said. District Attorney Andrew Wylie [said on Friday](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/new-york-prison-escape/prison-worker-joyce-mitchell-did-not-give-inmates-power-tools-n374256 "undefined") that Mitchell was previously investigated because of a complaint that she had a relationship with Sweat, but he said there wasn’t “sufficient information” to remove her from the prison … [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/new-york-prison-escape/new-york-prison-worker-backed-out-escape-plan-prosecutor-n375446 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3921406/new-york-prison-worker-joyce-mitchell/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3921406/new-york-prison-worker-joyce-mitchell/"},"headline":"New York Prison Worker Had 'Sexual Incident' With Escapee","datePublished":"2015-06-15T16:17:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:12:57.190Z","description":"Mitchell agreed to be the getaway driver but backed out because she still loved her husband, prosecutors say","url":"https://time.com/3921406/new-york-prison-worker-joyce-mitchell/","keywords":["Crime","Jail","Prison"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf65d31cc6f1e5b52/69885486524fc0353edf31cb/joyce-mitchell1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alastair Jamieson / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf65d31cc6f1e5b52/69885486524fc0353edf31cb/joyce-mitchell1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joyce Mitchell","caption":"Joyce Mitchell","creditText":"Andrew Burton — Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3921406/new-york-prison-worker-joyce-mitchell/","name":"New York Prison Worker Had 'Sexual Incident' With Escapee"}}]}] ```