Rosie Smith, 28, was handed a 24-month suspended prison sentence at Maidstone Crown Court for misconduct in public office on July 3.
Smith conducted a months-long affair with Marli Casaletto, 32, while working at HMP Rochester in 2023.
The pair phoned each other around 300 times and made an unknown number of video calls to each other between January and November 2023, using three mobile phones Casaletto kept illegally inside the prison.
For the unauthorised transmission of an image or sound by electronic communication from within a prison, Casaletto, of Uplands Road, Brighton, was handed an eight month jail term suspended for 12 months.
For the same offence, Smith received a nine-month suspended sentence to be served concurrently with her sentence for misconduct in a public office.
Judge Lee Harris said: “To say this was stupid is an understatement, it was much worse than that.
“You both entered into this relationship with your eyes open… and knowing what you were doing was wrong.
“You knew – or certainly should have known – what a difficult job being a prison officer is.
“How important discipline is.
“You let yourself down, you let your colleagues down, you let everyone in that prison down.
“You risked your safety and all of their safety.”
Smith and Casaletto also exchanged handwritten letters, including some in which Smith referred to Casaletto as the “love of my life.”
The court heard that Smith communicated with Casaletto’s mother, and that she appeared to have been sent money by his father to buy a car.
Both Smith and Casaletto pleaded guilty to their offences at earlier hearings.
Judge Harris said that Smith had committed no previous offences and he was “confident” she would not re-offend.
He also considered the welfare of Smith’s baby son, for whom she is the primary carer, when deciding to spare her a prison sentence.
Barrister Pamela Rose, defending Smith, described her client as a “very vulnerable lady.”
Defending Casaletto, Abbey Robertson told the court that he is now employed, living with his mother, and newly engaged.
The judge told Casaletto that “the corner you have turned is just enough for me to take a chance on you.”
“It’s a big chance and I accept that, don’t let me down, don’t let yourself down.”
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