Connor Smith — former MTV star Are you the one? — was arrested in Florida 13 months after authorities issued a national warrant for his arrest for three felonies out of Illinois.
Smith, 33, is wanted on charges of traveling to meet with a minor for sexual intercourse, grooming and distributing harmful material.
An arrest affidavit obtained by PEOPLE shows that the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office took Smith into custody on Thursday and booked him into the Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater, Fla., the same day.
“He was taken into custody by our agency at 15163 George Boulevard in Unicorporate Clearwater at approximately 12:20 a.m. on March 28,” Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Amanda Sinni confirms to PEOPLE.
Image by Connor Smith dated March 28, 2024.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department
‘Are you the one?’ Alum Connor Smith arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting teenage girl
The arrest affidavit states that Smith did not have any weapons, did not appear to be under the influence of drugs and there were no indications of mental health issues at the time of his arrest.
The arrest comes more than a year after an alleged incident on February 9, 2023, which police said involved Smith arranging to meet what he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex in Lake County, Illinois.
In a news release dated February 14, 2023, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office detailed the events leading up to the incident and the aftermath.
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“For the past several weeks, Connor N. Smith… has been communicating with an undercover detective online [who] she presented herself as a girl younger than 15 years old,” the statement said. “During the conversation, Smith sent the ‘child’ sexually explicit images and videos of himself. Smith then arranged to meet the ‘girl’ for a sexual encounter.”
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“Smith drove to meet the girl in order to engage in sexual intercourse with her,” the statement said. “When Smith arrived, detectives moved to arrest him. Smith, however, managed to escape and fled in his vehicle.”
The arrest affidavit lists Smith’s $1 million bond after his arrest.
In an unrelated incident, Smith was previously arrested in December 2021 for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
Smith, who appeared in the third season Are you the one? In 2015, he was charged with four felonies following his 2021 arrest, including sexual assault and rape, according to Indiana court records obtained by PEOPLE.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education