Rikers Island guard charged with rape and smuggling weed into prison

The corrections officer told investigators that she fell in love with the inmate

A view of the entrance to Rikers Island penitentiary complex. (Emmanuel Dunnand/Getty)

A guard at Rikers Island correctional facility has been charged with rape and marijuana possesion.

Nicole Bartley, 30, was charged on Sunday after she admitted to having a sexual relationship with an inmate. Under New York law, inmates cannot legally consent to sex while in jail. The corrections officer also told investigators that she planned to smuggle K2—synthetic marijuana—into the prison for him.

“I was in love with him. He used me and played me for a fool. I had sex with him on one occasion in the jail a few days before Jan. 30,” she said, according to the New York Daily News.

“I used a condom. It was in the closet in the morning when everyone else was locked in. It only lasted five minutes.”

NYC Department of Investigation (NYC Department of Investigation)

Ms Bartley was arrested on Saturday at her home in the Bronx. She was in possession of 70 grams of marijuana that she says she planned on smuggling to the inmate. She was charged with rape in the third degree, sexual misconduct, official misconduct, promoting prison contraband in the second degree and criminal possession of marijuana in the fourth degree.

“This case involving sex for drugs puts on full display the dangers of corruption in our City’s jails and the connection between the drugs, inappropriate relationships and violence that pervade the system,” Mark Peters, Department of Investigation commissioner, said in a press release

“The alleged crimes by probationary Correction Officer Nicole Bartley erode the public’s trust in our civil servants, and tarnish the hardworking officers in our city jails,” said Bronx County District attorney Darcel Clark. “Such corrupt and indecent actions contribute to the troubling conditions on Rikers Island, and undermine safety and security there.”

She was later released on $1,000 bail and now faces up to four years in prison if convicted of the charges.