Connor Smith, a former star of the MTV series Are You the One?, was apprehended in Florida thirteen months after a nationwide arrest warrant was issued by Illinois authorities for three felonies.
Smith, 33, was sought on suspicion of engaging in sexual activity with a minor by traveling to that location, as well as grooming and disseminating detrimental material.
Smith was taken into custody by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday and lodged in the Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Florida, on the same day, according to an arrest affidavit.
“At approximately 12:20 p.m. on March 28, our agency apprehended him at 15163 George Boulevard in Unincorporated Clearwater,” Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Amanda Sinni confirmed.
According to the arrest affidavit, Smith was not found in possession of any firearms, exhibited no signs of intoxication, and had no apparent mental health concerns at the moment of his apprehension.
More than a year has passed since the alleged February 9, 2023 incident in Lake County, Illinois, where Smith allegedly made arrangements to have sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl, according to the police. The arrest was made on that date.
The events preceding and following the incident were detailed in a press release issued by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office on February 14, 2023.
“Connor N. Smith… had been communicating online with an undercover detective posing as a girl under the age of 15 for several weeks,” the release stated. “Throughout the conversations, Smith transmitted sexually explicit images and videos of himself to ‘the child’.” Smith subsequently organized a sexual encounter with the ‘female’ after making the necessary preparations.
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The release continued, “Smith drove to meet the girl to have a sexual encounter with her.” “As soon as Smith entered the area, detectives moved in to seize him.” “However, Smith managed to escape and made his way away in his vehicle.”
After his detention, Smith posted a bond of $1 million, according to the arrest affidavit.
Smith was previously detained in December 2021 in an unrelated matter on suspicion of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
According to court documents from Indiana, Smith, who appeared on season 3 of Are You the One? in 2015, was accused of four felonies following his arrest in 2021, including sexual battery and rape.