Rape Allegations, Charges Dramatically Affected Orland Park Man's Life

ORLAND PARK, IL — Connor Smith says that he was just beginning a very promising career when allegations surfaced that he had raped a teenage girl from Indiana in a hotel room after the two met on social media.

The 32-year-old Orland Park man, who once appeared on an MTV reality show ended up being charged with felony rape, sexual batter, and two counts of criminal confinement in Dec. 2021, stemming from a meeting with a girl who was 16 at the time.

But last week, prosecutors in Lake County, Indiana, announced they were dropping the charges after they determined they did not have enough evidence to convict Smith. On Saturday, Smith released a statement to Patch through his attorney, saying the charges had drastically affected his life.

“These accusations have affected my life in more ways than you could possibly imagine,” Smith said through his attorney. “Before the accusations, I had just started a very promising career and was let go due to the very public nature of this whole ordeal.

“All I can say is thanks to the love and support of my family and friends, I am doing everything I can to put this ordeal behind me.”

Last week, Lake County Prosecutor Tara Villarreal wrote that the girl who had originally made the allegations against Smith was no longer cooperating with law enforcement. Villarreal also said that her office was unsuccessful in reaching the victim, which led to its decision to seek the motion from the court to dismiss charges.

The girl originally told police that she and Smith met online and then met at a hotel in Indiana. According to court documents, Smith forced her to perform a sex act on him in his pickup truck before she said that he further sexually assaulted her in the hotel.

Police said that once the two got to the hotel, Smith forced the girl to undress and then pulled her into the bathroom by her hair, urinated on her, and forced her to drink his urine by holding her nose, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported last year, citing court records. The report states that Smith then dragged the girl back to the bed and forced her to perform a sex act on him and then reportedly strangled her for resisting and then continued to rape her.

The girl admitted to police last year that she had lied about alleging that Smith had pulled her out of a window at the relative’s home because she did not want to get in trouble for sneaking out. She told police that she had met Smith online and that Smith used the username “Champ” on both the Omegle app and Snapchat.