First I agree with @ValidPistachio .
I don’t know any woman who wants to work in a prison. Too dangerous. So what happens (I talked to one of these women who had an affair with a prisoner under her control) is that you start to develop a connection to whatever prisoner is least awful, and suddenly, they’re offering to protect you from the other prisoners. And you feel a lot safer. Then other feelings grow and… that’s how it went for her. But I do think some of these women are the same type who would date un-reformed ex-cons just because they love the drama. Between those two types, I think it covers a lot of these crimes. And I’m sure there are just some with weird prisoner fetishes? That’s plenty to cover 18 incidents.