Katherine Fosdick fined over illegal relationship with Charles Pawney, Matthew Lyons

A Queensland jail guard, who had a fling with a drug trafficker and is dating a convicted kidnapper, has been exposed for her forbidden romances with former prisoners. VIDEO, PHOTOS.

Recently released prisoners, one still wearing an ankle monitor bracelet, proved irresistible for a Maryborough jail guard who has been sentenced over steamy texts and sex with the two former inmates.

Katherine Fosdick, 28, pleaded guilty in Hervey Bay Magistrates Court to two counts of prohibition on intimate relationships between staff members and offenders.

The court heard Fosdick was working as guard at Maryborough Correctional Centre when she struck up relationships with the two men, Matthew Robert Lyons and Charles Alfred Pawney, after they were released from prison but still completing sentences in the community.

On October 14, 2022, detectives from the Corrective Services Investigation Unit received information Fosdick was engaging in inappropriate relationships with prisoners.

At the time, Pawney, who had been jailed in 2019 for his role in the kidnapping and torture of a man over $30,000 in missing drugs, was being supervised by corrections as a condition of his release and subject to electronic monitoring.

The device identified he was spending a “significant” amount of time at the same Hervey Bay address.

Maryborough's Kat Fosdick has been sentenced for inappropriate relations with two former prisoners at the jail where she worked.

On October 15, Fosdick and Pawney were seen at a chicken shop “displaying signs of physical affection, holding hands, touching each other as though they were in a relationship”.

The same day, the two drove to the Hervey Bay home where both were found on the sofa and detectives executed a search warrant.

Both their phones were seized and revealed photos of the two hugging and kissing as well as sexually explicit images including of Pawney using a sex aide.

A Facebook photo of former Maryborough jail guard Kat Fosdick kissing the cheek of partner and former prisoner Charles Pawney.

A separate search of Lyons’ phone also revealed a sexually explicit video taken by Fosdick of him standing in her bathroom naked, “swinging” his genitals.

She participated in an interview with police where she admitted to being in an intimate relationship with Pawney, telling officers they had “met on Tinder”.

Fosdick denied having known him when he was in custody at the jail and insisted they first met in person on a beach in September, 2022.

She said she’d seen his electronic ankle monitor but did not believe it was an offence to be with him as Pawney was no longer a prisoner at the jail, the court heard

Asked about Lyons, who was convicted by the Supreme Court on drug trafficking in 2018, Fosdick said she had been in an intimate relationship with him for about one and a half to two months while he was on parole, before she started dating Pawney.

She was “apologetic” for what detectives had seen on her mobile phone, the court heard.

She remains in a relationship with Pawney, who was 22 when he pleaded guilty to burglary, four counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, wilful damage, stealing, kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping and torture.

Charles Pawney in a "prison green" shade of shirt with Kat Fosdick.

The couple, who arrived at court and left together on Thursday, has made no effort to keep their relationship (or Pawney’s past) a secret with a series of loved up snaps featuring on their social media accounts.

The irony in a photo on Fosdick’s Facebook page captioned “you complete me”, where she is pictured embracing a “prison green” wearing Pawney (the shirt shade bears a striking resemblance to the Queensland jail uniform) isn’t lost on their friends.

One comment reads: “bad choice of T-shirt colour” to which Pawney (whose profile is under the name Cha Rlie) replies “feels familiar” with a smiley face emoji.

Convicted kidnapper Charles Pawney is in a relationship with former Maryborough jail guard Kat Fosdick.

Under another picture on Pawney’s page, he writes “From a boy to a man”, the image taken after his release from jail.

The court heard Fosdick had no prior criminal history, had resigned from her job at the jail, currently worked in traffic control and hoped to have future roles in government departments but not corrections.

Her lawyer argued convictions for the offences would impact on his client’s ability to hold the necessary cards and pass checks required for such roles.

The court heard the saving grace for Fosdick was that the relationships were carried out in the community after the prisoners had been released from the jail and not within the jail.

Charles Pawney captioned this image "from a boy to a man".

Magistrate Trinity McGarvie said in her role, Fosdick had been in a position of trust and was expected to uphold community expectations.

“You chose to be involved with two offenders who were serving terms of imprisonment within the community,” she said.

“There’s no suggestion you were engaged in any improper conduct in your role when you were serving at the correctional centre and that’s a significant distinction from the other cases that commonly come before the court of this nature.

“There is no allegation that you were in a position of power over these offenders that you could in any way act in a way that would assist them in their incarceration or assist them with their performance on parole.”

Fosdick was fined $3000 and no convictions were recorded.

Kat Fosdick looking out over the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Queensland Corrective Services was asked to comment on the potential impact of Fosdick’s actions on the safety of a string of new female recruits who recently graduated and now worked at the Maryborough jail, but the department did not address the question.

Instead, a spokesman said “Queensland Corrective Services can confirm that a former officer from Maryborough Correctional Centre was charged in October under the Corrective Services Act 2006 with two offences while employed at the prison”.

“QCS is committed to the highest standards of conduct, transparency and accountability, and expects the highest in professional and ethical behaviour from all our officers,” he said

“This matter has been finalised by the courts and it is not appropriate for QCS to comment further.”