'I was checking his groin for lumps': Girlfriend of 'Shawshank' escapee David Sweat denies she was caught in a sex act with the inmate during a visit to his maximum security prison

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Inmate David Sweat, known for escaping prison in 2015, is in trouble again after he was caught in a sex act with his girlfriend

The girlfriend of David Sweat, the infamous convicted murderer who broke out of an upstate New York prison in a 'Shawshank Redemption' -style escape, is denying claims she was helping him masturbate during a recent visit. 

Prison sources at Attica Correctional Facility told the New York Post that Frances Malanik was banned from seeing Sweat for 60 days after they were caught in a sex act during a recent visit.

The source said a correctional officer saw Sweat touching himself through his pants in the visitor's room as Malanik reached her hand through a partition to help him out.

The 45-year-old mother-of-one told the Post that's not exactly what happened. 

According to Malanik, Sweat was complaining of lumps in his groin so she reached down to check.   

'He was complaining about a lump in his groin area. I'm a nurse. It was just a natural reaction to check on him,' she said. 'I never thought for a minute they'd think it was sexual in nature.'

Malanik's version of her March 8 visit to is vastly different than what Sweat told the Post.

The 37-year-old inmate, who is serving a life sentence at the maximum security prison for killing a cop, did not mention a lump in his groin. He told the outlet that he had drank 'about three and a half 20-ounce iced teas' and had to use the bathroom.     

Frances Malanik was escorted out of the prison after she decided to help Sweat fondle himself. Malanik and Sweat started dating in 2015, shortly after Sweat was captured and returned to prison 

‘Like any little boy or man would do, I grabbed it like, “Man, I really have to pee'', he said. 

Sweat said he was squirming in his seat because he couldn't wait to use the bathroom, and claims his prison uniform 'makes it look like I have a hard-on anyway'. 

As for why Malanik was reaching through the partition? Sweat said he was holding her hand and the proximity made it look as if she was touching his groin. 

Both suggested to the Post that the guards misrepresented what happened to punish Sweat. 

Malanik said correctional officers are mad Sweat was transferred to the Attica prison four months ago because extra security cameras were added, making it hard for them to break the rules. 

Sweat said he's been on a hunger strike the past four months because he believes guards are trying to poison his food. He also said he's afraid to take showers because he doesn't want to be vulnerable in front of the officers.    

‘They bring a bucket of hot water in the morning and that’s basically what I’ve been using,’ he said.

New York is one of four states that allows qualifying inmates to have conjugal visits, also known as extended family visits. Sweat, however, doesn't qualify. 

According to the state's Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, inmates housed in the Special Housing Unit for disciplinary reasons are not granted family extended visits. 

Sweat was placed in solitary confinement in the Special Housing Unit at Attica Correctional Facility after trying to make a deal with authorities in which he said he would detail his newly hatched escape plan if they gave him special privileges.  

Sweat and Malanik struck up a relationship in 2015, shortly after Sweat was captured and returned to prison following an elaborate escape. 

In June of that year he and fellow inmate Richard Matt busted out of the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York by using tools smuggled to them by jail worker Joyce Mitchell. The escape resembled the one hatched in the 1994 movie 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

Matt, 49, was fatally shot by a border patrol tactical team three weeks after he busted out of prison. Sweat was captured on June 28, 2015. 

Mitchell, who was nicknamed 'Shawskank' after it was revealed she had sexual relationships with Matt and Sweat, was arrested and is currently serving seven years in prison.

The elaborate scheme and Mitchell's involvement inspired a 2017 Lifetime movie. 

Joyce Mitchell, a former jail worker, helped Seat and another inmate escape prison in 2015 by smuggling them tools. The events inspired a Lifetime movie