‘The Bachelorette’s' Lincoln Adim Has Reportedly Been Convicted of Indecent Assault & Battery

At the start of this season of The Bachelorette, we tried to predict who the villain would be, but we had to recalculate our diabolical forecast. Though Jordan was our big bad frontrunner, Garrett Yrigoyen skewed our villainy scale by being transphobic AF. However, resident cry-er Lincoln Adim might have a villainous streak as well, seeing as he was convicted of indecent assault and battery—which might prove that there can be multiple villains on Bachelorette.

According to TV Guide, Adim was convicted of indecent assault and battery on May 21, just outside of Boston. Honestly, we weren’t expecting (nor were we hoping for) this twist. But what exactly does indecent assault and battery mean?

As the Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy reports, indecent assault and battery basically boils down to a sexual assault that doesn’t involve rape, but includes an aggravated assault charge. The Law Office of Patrick J. Murphy adds that the definition of indecent assault in the state of Massachusetts can vary, but the Commonwealth of Mass typically classifies any nonconsensual and inappropriate touching of another person’s body to be indecent assault.

The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office tells Vulture that while Adim was convicted on this crime on May 21, 2018, the initial crime took place on May 30, 2016.

“He was sentenced to one year in a house of correction, with that term suspended for a two-year probationary period," the District Attorney tells Romper. "The judge ordered him to stay away from the victim and attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week during those two years. By law, he is expected to register as a sex offender."

Currently, Adim is still on the show, which is concerning AF. However, what’s more concerning is that somehow Adim’s conviction slipped through The Bachelor franchise’s background check. And we aren’t the only ones who are worried about this gargantuan misstep, seeing as former Bachelor contestant, Ashley Spivey, used her Twitter to bring this issue to light after Reality Steve’s initial coverage.

“I hope everyone will take the time to read @RealitySteve’s column today. I am honestly horrified that Lincoln, who was charged with indecent assault and battery, was allowed to go on the show. I do not understand how a serious crime like this was missed during background checks,” Spivey writes.

Spivey has also tweeted about The Bachelorette’s allegedly lackluster background checks during the now-infamous Yrigoyen Insta-scandal. Although Adim wasn’t convicted until this season started filming, we can’t help but wonder if any of the Bachelorette officials came across any of Adim’s preceding charges (or at least the impending charges regarding now-conviction).

TBH, we just hope that all this season’s early controversies will help The Bachelor franchise better mitigate future contestants’ background searches and social media history.