'Bachelorette' Studio Responds to Lincoln Adim's Indecent Assault and Battery Conviction

The 26-year-old is currently still in the competition.

Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette continues to be plagued by controversy. 

Lincoln Adim, a 26-year-old contestant competing for Kufrin's heart, was convicted of indecent assault and battery last month stemming from a 2016 incident in Boston, Massachusetts, ET confirms. 

The Suffolk County District Attorney's office tells ET in a statement that Adim was found guilty of indecent assault and battery for groping and assaulting an adult woman on a harbor cruise ship on May 30, 2016.

Adim, a Nigerian-born sales executive who lives in Los Angeles, was convicted on May 21, one week before Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette premiered. He was sentenced to one year in a house of correction, with that term suspended for a two-year probationary period. 

"The judge ordered him to stay away from the victim and attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week during those two years," the statement reads. "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. By law, he is expected to register as a sex offender."

Warner Bros. has no comment. ABC does not comment on production-related inquiries. ET has reached out to Adim for comment.

A source close to Kufrin tells ET that production does do background checks for everyone on the show. “They do background checks ... maybe they just let it pass or didn’t know? It’s a thorough background check,” the source claims. “[Contestants] do psychological tests for the check. [They] meet with a psychologist who ask [them about their life].”

This is the second time this season that Becca is learning disturbing news about one of her contestants. Garrett Yrigoyen came under fire for liking offensive posts on Instagram.

Late last month, it was another one of Kufrin's contestants, Garrett Yrigoyen, who was engulfed in scandal as he liked Instagram posts that mocked transgender people, feminists, immigrants and Parkland shooting survivors from an old account. Yrigoyen admitted to the behavior and apologized for his actions, writing in a statement on his Instagram account that he's "taking steps to grow, become more educated, and be a better version of myself." 

Kufrin weighed in on the drama during an interview with ET. See what she said in the video below. 

Reporting by Steve Wilks, Claudia Cagan and Lauren Zima.

UPDATE:

Warner Bros. issued a new statement to ET on Wednesday evening, revealing that they are investigating why the incident didn't appear on his background check. 

"No one on The Bachelorette production had any knowledge about the incident or charges when Lincoln Adim was cast, and he himself denied ever having engaged in or having been charged with any sexual misconduct," the statement said. "We employ a well-respected and highly experienced third party who has done thousands of background checks consistent with industry standards to do a nationwide background check in this case. 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."

ABC did not have further comment. 

[Originally published Wednesday, May 13, 2018 at 1:57 P.M. PT]

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