Where is Connor Smith now? 'Are You The One' star arrested on grooming charges following a year-long manhunt
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA: Connor Smith was recently arrested in Florida on charges linked to child solicitation following a year-long manhunt. Smith was booked into the Pinellas County Jail, where he is presently being held without bond.
Connor Smith, 33, was the target of an active arrest warrant for charges including grooming, traveling to meet a minor, and disseminating harmful material, as stated by the Lake County Sheriff's Office. The FBI took him into custody in Clearwater, Florida, on Thursday, March 28.
The former MTV personality, hailing from Orland Park, was sought for soliciting sex from an undercover Lake County detective under the pretense of communicating with a minor. He was apprehended in Florida on Thursday, March 28, after evading authorities for over a year.
Connor Smith was arrested before for allegedly raping a teen girl in 2021
'Are You The One' alum Connor Smith has previously faced criminal charges, including rape and other serious allegations, in 2021.
The warrant for Connor Smith was issued due to allegations of rape, criminal confinement, and sexual battery by a 16-year-old teenager. According to documents, the alleged crime began when the girl provided a stranger with her house address over Snapchat because she was selling a cat.
She alleged that this stranger “ripped open her bedroom window screen, yanked her out of the room, threw her into his truck and drove to a motel while sexually assaulting her.”
However, the unidentified teen’s story changed during police interviews, and she eventually confessed that she met this stranger on a dating app and voluntarily went out to meet him.
The teenager alleges that once she was inside the guy's truck, he allegedly "forced" her into performing oral sex while driving to the motel. He also reportedly slapped and choked her multiple times and urinated on her in the motel room.
When the man dropped her back home, he told her that he would return the next day. However, the girl's family members, who were outside on the front lawn, reportedly chased him away.
Eventually, police arrested Connor Smith on December 16, 2021, after his vehicle matched the description provided by the girl and eyewitnesses.
Former MTV star Connor Smith has been on the run since February 2023
Authorities have been searching for Connor Smith since February 2023. At the time, Lake County Sheriff's police said he had been communicating with an 'undercover detective' who posed as a girl under the age of 15.
Smith, who appeared on the MTV reality series 'Are You The One?' in 2015, allegedly sent sexually explicit photos and videos of himself to the detective posing as a girl.
He then made arrangements to meet up with the supposed underage girl at a shopping mall parking lot for sex according to the police. On February 9, 2023, he drove to meet her for sex. Upon his arrival, detectives attempted to arrest him, but he managed to escape.
As soon as Connor Smith noticed sheriff’s officers approaching his pickup truck in the parking lot, he quickly attempted to evade arrest by driving off. "He became very wary immediately," explained Christopher Covelli, deputy chief of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in an interview with Fox 32.
"Put the car in drive, drove over a curb, drove over a significant amount of grass out onto a major roadway fleeing from our investigators. Our investigators gave chase for a bit. Eventually, he was going at such a dangerous and excessive speed they terminated that pursuit," he added.
Following this incident, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office issued a nationwide warrant for Smith’s arrest, charging him with grooming, traveling to meet a minor, and disseminating harmful material.
When did Connor Smith first appear on MTV’s reality dating show 'Are You the One'?
Connor Smith made his debut on season 3 of MTV’s reality dating show 'Are You the One?' in 2015.
Following his stint on the show and unsuccessful attempts to find a lasting relationship, the reality star departed from filming in Hawaii and returned to his hometown in Chicago with plans to establish his gym.
Post-show, he expressed his interest in pursuing further reality television opportunities. "To all of those who keep asking why I haven’t been on @TheChallengeMTV, trust me I would love to go show them what’s up," he wrote via X in November 2017. "Make the call guys."
