Bachelorette contestant Lincoln Adim was found guilty of groping a woman, yet managed to pass background check
‘The Bachelorette’s contestant Lincoln Adim passed ABC’s thorough background checks despite being convicted of indecent assault, confirmed USA Today.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, Adim, 26, who is still in the run for Becca’s heart on the current season of the popular reality show, was charged after he was involved in an incident with a woman on a harbor cruise ship in Boston Harbor.
A law enforcement source told TMZ that, during the alleged incident, Lincoln grabbed the woman's hands and placed them on his own chest and stomach before allegedly groping her breasts and grinding up against her.
Though the incident occurred on May 30, 2016, he was only charged on May 21, only one week before ‘The Bachelorette’ returned.
Jake Wark, a spokesman for the country's district attorney, told the publication that the judge ordered Adim to stay away from the victim and to attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week during those two years.
"If he complies with the judge’s orders, he will not have to serve out his term, but if he fails to comply with those orders or re-offends, he could be ordered to serve out the year behind bars," says Wark. "By law, he is expected to register as a sex offender."
According to an expose written by the ‘Los Angeles Times,’ Bachelor Nation conducts an extensive background check on every contestant. It requires contestants to complete a 150-question personality test. In addition, each contestant is profiled by a psychologist, is asked to submit to medical testing (including STD screenings) and has to meet with a private investigator, whose is trained to dig up every little thing from the contestant’s past.
Despite this thorough process, Adim somehow managed to get a heads up from Bachelor Nation.
The show was also heavily criticized regarding its vetting process this season after fans called out Garrett Yrigoyen, another contestant and frontrunner this season, on extremely offensive social media behavior. Yrigoyen has apologized for his behavior since.
The producers of ‘The Bachelorette’ Warner Bros TV said: “No one on ‘The Bachelorette’ production had any knowledge about the incident or charges when Lincoln Adim was cast, and he himself denies ever having engaged in or having been charged with any sexual misconduct.”
The company also mentioned that the background check on Adim was conducted by a reputed third party.
They added: "The report we received did not reference any incident or charge relating to the recent conviction — or any other charges relating to sexual misconduct. We are currently investigating why the report did not contain this information, which we will share when we have it."
On the last season with Rachel Lindsay, the show was heavily criticized for its vetting process after racist tweets from a contestant found while the show was airing. Due to this scandal, the show announced a change in its vetting process at the end of the season. However, the Adim case calls into question whether further changes are required.
