Fugitive who appeared in MTV reality show arrested on grooming charges

A man who appeared in an MTV reality show nearly a decade ago was arrested Thursday on grooming charges after nearly a year of eluding authorities.

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According to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office booking records, Connor N. Smith, 33, of Orland Park, Illinois, was arrested in Clearwater, Florida.

Smith appeared in the MTV reality series “Are You The One?” in 2015, WTSP-TV reported.

Smith had been wanted on an open warrant by Illinois authorities on felony charges of traveling to meet a minor, grooming and disseminating harmful material, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. He had eluded authorities since Feb. 9, 2023, the sheriff’s office said.

Police said that Smith drove from his home in Orland Park to a Lake County shopping mall to meet who he believed was the underage child, WFLD-TV reported.

“Connor Smith kept engaging this girl in communication, in conversation, eventually sending lewd photos of himself to who he thought was this girl, really an undercover detective, and then worked out a plan to meet who he thought was this girl to engage in a sexual relationship,” Christopher Covelli, deputy chief of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, told the television station.

When Smith arrived at the parking lot, deputies immediately approached but the suspect fled the scene.

“He became very wary immediately. Put the car in drive, drove over a curb, drove over a significant amount of grass out on to a major roadway fleeing from our investigators,” Covelli told WFLD.

He fled in his black pickup truck, WBBM-TV reported.

“Our investigators gave chase for a bit. Eventually, he was going at such a dangerous and excessive speed they terminated that pursuit,” Covelli told WFLD.

It was unclear how authorities located Smith in Florida, WTSP reported. Officials in Illinois previously said the suspect had relatives in the Sunshine State.

He appeared during the third season of “Are You the One” in 2015, Us Weekly reported. The show followed a group of singles who are secretly matched into couples by the show’s producers.

Smith is being held in the Pinellas County Jail without bail and is awaiting extradition to Illinois, online booking records show.

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