A reality TV dance teacher in Tennessee has been sentenced to nine months in prison for raping a 16-year-old boy and exposing him to HIV.
John Conner III, who appeared on multiple episodes of a Lifetime reality TV show “Bring It”, did not inform the boy of his HIV status when they met on social media in 2005 and had sex several times, prosecutors say.
30-year-old Conner, who operates the “Infamous Dancerettes” dance team in Memphis, pleaded guilty in November to charges of criminal exposure to HIV, statutory rape by an authority figure and solicitation of a minor.
Apart from his nine-month sentence on Friday, Conner was also given four years of probation and will further be on the Sex Offender Registry for life, WREG reported.
According to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, Conner, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2012, met the teen online in 2015 when he was 26.
The teen joined his dance team and Conner began having unprotected sex with him, several times in his car.
Their “inappropriate relationship” also entailed the exchange of nude photos and sexually explicit text messages.
The boy informed his parents about the relationship in 2016 and later tested positive for HIV, investigators said.
Meanwhile, Conner has two similar cases pending with sexual partners aged 17 and 24.
