Former MTV Reality Star Arrested After Manhunt
A warrant has been out for the former contestant since February 2023.
Connor Smith, a contestant on MTV's 2015 show Are You The One?, was arrested Thursday in Clearwater, Florida, after a year on the run from authorities. An outstanding warrant for the ex-reality show contestant's arrest in Illinois had been in place since February 2023.
Last year, Smith fled from police in Illinois after he apparently planned to meet up with a minor for sex. During the course of a few weeks, Smith was not aware that undercover detectives had been messaging him pretending to be a 15-year-old girl, reported Deadline. A Lake County Sheriff's Office report said that before they made arrangements to meet in person, he sent explicit pictures and videos before setting up the meeting.
The 33-year-old allegedly planned to meet the fictitious child on Feb. 9 with the intent of engaging in sex acts between them. When officers moved in to apprehend him at his home, he fled in his pickup truck, TMZ reported.
In February 2023, a nationwide arrest warrant was issued for him, listing felony charges of traveling to meet a minor, grooming, and disseminating harmful material. Moreover, if he were captured and arrested, a judge would approve a one-million-dollar bond for him should he be apprehended.
Smith was previously reported as having been charged with sexual assault of a minor in 2021. However, the charges were dismissed. According to TMZ, the alleged victim gave police a brutal account of what happened, and he ended up being arrested in the neighboring city of Chicago as a result. After the victim stopped cooperating with law enforcement in September 2022, all charges against him were dropped.
According to an inmate log from Pinellas County, Florida, Smith was booked into custody Thursday afternoon following reports that he had been spotted in the state. He remains in jail without bond and was expected to appear in court today.
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