Bellingham, WA David A. Frick, a 53 year old Whatcom County resident, was arrested Thursday evening for a series of sexually motivated crimes. He was booked into Whatcom County Jail on two counts of 1st Degree Possession of Child Pornography, one count of 1st degree Internet viewing of minor(s) engaged in sexually explicit conduct and four counts of Voyeurism.
The Bellingham Police launched an investigation into this matter on July 8 upon receiving a tip regarding this illegal activity. Our detective assigned to Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) began delving into this case in collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations. The tip proved to be valid and the investigators gathered a significant amount of evidence pointing specifically to David Frick.
A search warrant was obtained yesterday afternoon and was served at Frick's residence in the 6600 block of Old Guide Road. This is a Lynden address yet the property is in an unincorporated area of the county. During the execution of the search warrant a number of items related to these crimes were located and seized. Frick agreed to an interview and admitted to our Detective that he has been collecting and viewing child related pornographic material.
During this interview Frick also revealed that he has been using his cell phone camera to videotape female employees in the staff changing room at his place of employment. Frick works for the City of Bellingham at Arne Hanna Aquatic Center. He has been a full time employee since 2007, and a part time employee since 1996. He states that he has only been involved in this voyeuristic behavior for the last year and that he has videotaped four adult female employees. Our investigators were not aware of Frick's criminal activities at his workplace until yesterday and this was not the focus of the initial investigation. We do not have any reason to believe that his criminal activities at the Aquatic Center involved patrons.
“We are all shocked by this development,” said Mayor Kelli Linville. “My top priority is to make sure that all community residents and employees are safe. This employee's access to city facilities has been revoked and he will be suspended upon his release from custody, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. We're asking anyone with information in this case to contact the police department.”
This investigation is far from completion and we recognize that citizens may wish to speak with us about interactions they have had with this individual. With this in mind we have set up a call center that will be active through the weekend from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you have information related to this circumstance please contact the Call Center 360-778-8754.
