A woman accused of using sex to bribe a prison guard into smuggling contraband into Rimutaka Prison denies the allegations against her.
The 37-year-old woman was charged with bribery as part of Operation Portia, an extensive police investigation into suspected corruption at Rimutaka Prison.
Operation Portia has also charged three former Corrections staff, one current employee and a member of the public.
The woman was due to appear in court on Tuesday but, after failing to appear, Judge Tim Black refused to grant her name suppression and issued a warrant for her arrest.
She was arrested on Tuesday at her Wainuiomata home and told Stuff she missed the court appearance because she slept in.
Officers subsequently took her to the Wellington police station and she appeared in court on Wednesday, where she was remanded on bail to reappear on January 25.
While she admits to sleeping with the prison guard - a 50-year-old Porirua man - she denies it was done to influence him into bringing contraband into the prison.
"Why would I bribe him with sex? I feel really hurt. I've been through hell in my life," she told Stuff.
She said police first approached her several years ago while investigating corruption at Rimutaka but she refused to talk to them out of fear they would "twist my words".
Recently, she was invited to an interview with police who then charged her with bribery, she told Stuff.
She claimed it was unfair she was the only one charged in Operation Portia who was not initially given name suppression.
She said it was a "disgrace" to have her name published and fears it would bring shame to her family. The prison guard she allegedly slept with is accused of twice accepting sex as a bribe to take contraband into the prison in April 2020.
Three other men were charged with smuggling contraband into the prison in exchange for payments ranging from $65 to $1300.
A former Corrections officer said corruption at Rimutaka Prison is widespread and she was threatened with the sack when she spoke up.
She said that there needed to be an overhaul of managers from the top of the organisation.
"Even though Operation Portia has finished, they've no way near dug out as many staff that are corrupt that they need to, it's still ongoing," she said.
