A man from Illinois who was on an MTV reality show has been arrested after more than a year on the run for allegedly attempting to persuade sex from someone he thought was an underage girl, Fox 32 states.
On Thursday, 33-year-old Connor Smith was arrested in Clearwater, Florida, for serious charges of traveling to meet a minor, grooming, and distributing harmful material.
Smith, who was in the MTV show “Are You The One?” in 2015, had escaped authorities since February 9, 2023.
That’s when police claim he had planned to meet someone he knew was a minor for sex after weeks of talking online. The person he was speaking with was an undercover detective pretending to be a girl under 15 years old, CBS News states.
“Connor Smith kept talking to this girl, and eventually sent inappropriate photos of himself to who he thought was this girl, really an undercover detective, and then made a plan to meet who he thought was this girl for sexual activities,” Lake County Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said, according to Fox 32.
When officers went up to Smith’s vehicle in the parking lot of a shopping mall, where he had planned to meet the girl, Smith drove over a curb and sped off. Officers chased after him but eventually stopped following because of how fast and hazardous Smith was driving.
Investigators said Smith is thought to have relatives in Florida and was trying to avoid getting arrested.
Smith was in the Pinellas County Jail and is set to be taken back to Illinois.
[Feature Photo: Connor Smith/Lake County Sheriffs Department]