A Western Washington University dean will not face charges after being arrested Monday for allegedly arranging a sexual encounter with someone he believed to be a 16-year-old boy.
John Dannekar, 48, was taken into custody after an unidentified man contacted the police, claiming to have exchanged messages and explicit photographs with Dannekar on the Grindr dating app, according to the Bellingham Herald. The man initially told Dannekar he was 18 but later admitted during their conversation that he was 16, the report said.
The man provided text messages and photographs to the police and agreed to meet Dannekar on the university's campus. He then called police officers to the location to confront Dannekar, police said. The dean was arrested outside Haggard Hall on campus and taken to Whatcom County Jail on Monday.
However, Whatcom County Prosecutor Eric Richey told The Bellingham Herald on Tuesday that while the incident involved an individual who claimed to be 16 years old, the person was actually older, making the communication legal under Washington state law, where the age of consent is 16.
Dannekar was released from jail on Tuesday.
The school's director of communications, Jonathan Higgins, said in a statement to the outlet late Tuesday afternoon that Danneker will remain on administrative leave until the university has conducted a review of the situation that led to his arrest.
