The Bellingham Police detective leading an investigation into three Bellingham Public Schools administrators accused of failing to report a student’s sexual assault is now the subject of an internal affairs investigation, The Bellingham Herald first reported.
The Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said the three administrators’ upcoming trial, slated for July 31, would be pushed to a later date. Administrators Meghan V. Dunham, Jeremy Gilbert Louzao and Maude Chimere Hackney were criminally cited in December 2022 for failure to report, a gross misdemeanor.
Det. Adam (Bo) S. McGinty was placed on administrative leave June 7 per agency policy, according to the Herald. While Deputy Chief Don Almer could not discuss the investigation, he told the Herald the allegations against McGinty “do not involve domestic violence, crimes of violence, acts of a sexual nature, any public safety issues, or drugs/alcohol.”
Mount Vernon Police Department is also investigating McGinty in order to have “an independent, transparent and credible process,” Almer told the Herald.
McGinty previously worked for the Hattiesburg Police Department in Mississippi. He was sued in 2014 for the alleged unlawful arrest and the wrongful filing of charges against the lawsuit’s three plaintiffs, according to court documents. The suit was permanently dismissed in 2015, and a confidential settlement was paid to the plaintiffs.
McGinty joined the Bellingham Police Department in 2015 and was promoted to detective in 2018, the Herald reported.
