Connor Smith, who starred on MTV’s Are You The One?, was arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl and holding her against her will in July. Smith, 31, was arrested on Friday and charged with rape, sexual battery, and two counts of criminal confinement. The teenager first told police she was kidnapped from her room when she was visiting family in Indiana.
The teen said she met Smith online after she exchanged information with a person who claimed to be selling a cat, according to court records obtained by Us Weekly. At first, the girl told police a man broke into her bedroom window and put her in his truck, but she later told police she fabricated this part of the story because she was afraid her family would punish her for sneaking out. The alleged victim also later told police she met Smith on a dating app instead, according to documents obtained by TMZ.
Videos by PopCulture.com
After she left her family’s home, the victim claimed Smith assaulted her in the truck. He allegedly assaulted her again in a hotel room. The MTV star brought her home, and the victim’s family members started chasing his vehicle. The family members helped police identify Smith’s vehicle by providing the license plate number. DNA analysis showed Smith was a likely match for the DNA obtained from the alleged victim’s sexual assault kit, court records show.
Smith was arrested in the Chicago suburb Oak Lawn, Illinois. He is still in jail there, waiting for extradition to Indiana. The alleged victim picked Smith out of a lineup, reports TMZ.
Smith appeared on Are You The One? Season 3, which debuted in September 2015. The show centers on single people who are matched into couples by producers and have to figure out who they were matched to. If they guess correctly, the two split a $1 million prize at the end of the season.ย Are You The One? ended in September 2019 after eight seasons. Seasons 3 and 4 are available on Netflix.
Are You The One? came under scrutiny in April when The Daily Beast reported that cast member Gianna Hammer was allegedly drugged by production and sexually assaulted by an unnamed male cast member in 2016. Hammer said she was never contacted by the producers or MTV after the season was filmed. MTV took Hammer’s season off streaming platforms, and Lighthearted Entertainment denied the allegations. MTV launched an investigation into Hammer’s claims and paused production on a potential ninth season of the series.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
Related Posts
-
Bullet casings and broken glass. Crime scene.
