Content warning: This article covers allegations of rape and grooming. RAINN offers help for those impacted by sexual violence. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit the online chat for 24-hour, free, confidential support.
Former MTV reality star Connor Smith is in custody in Florida, a year after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest.
Smith, who appeared in Season 3 of MTV’s dating show Are You The One? in 2015, was arrested on Thursday in Pinellas County, Florida, ending a year-long manhunt, TMZ reports.
The 33-year-old had been wanted in Lake County, Illinois, since February 2023. He allegedly sent explicit photos and videos of himself to undercover detectives posing as a girl under the age of 15 and allegedly made plans to meet that online persona, according to WGN.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office attempted to arrest Smith that month at his home in Orland Park, Illinois, but he fled the scene when the cops arrived. A warrant was then issued for Smith’s arrest, with a $1,000,000 bond listed. The charges of grooming, traveling to meet a minor, and disseminating harmful material approved for the warrant, as WGN reported at the time.
On Thursday, Smith was booked into the Pinellas County Jail and held without bond, according to WFLA. He was scheduled to make his first court appearance on Friday. Further updates on Smith’s case are not readily available, though a Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office subject charge report shows that the reality TV alum is still in custody as of the time of this writing.
Smith was previously arrested in 2021 for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Indiana, but those charges were dropped the following year when the victim stopped cooperating with law enforcement, according to TMZ.