Rikers Correction Officer Faces Rape, Smuggling Charges
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Rikers Island correction officer was arrested Saturday on charges of rape and promoting contraband.
Nicole Bartley, 30, of the Bronx, was arrested after a drug-sniffing dog alerted authorities about Bartley as she arrived for work around 5 a.m. No contraband was found on Bartley at the time, but an investigation found that she had a package of marijuana at her home intended for an inmate at the jail whom she had a sexual relationship with, authorities said.
Under state law, inmates cannot consent to sexual relationships.
"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, commissioner of the city's Department of Investigation, said in a news 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," added 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."
Bartley is charged with rape in the third degree, promoting prison contraband, sexual misconduct, official misconduct and criminal possession of marijuana. She had 70 grams of marijuana inside her home, authorities said. The rape charge alone carries a prison sentence of up to four years.
Bartley has been suspended from her job, where she has worked since May 2014.
