Reality TV dance teacher pleads guilty to HIV, sex charges involving teen student

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A dance teacher once featured on a reality TV dance show has pleaded guilty to having unprotected sex with a teenage student and exposing the boy to the AIDs virus, according to District Attorney General Amy Weirich.

John Conner III, 30, was scheduled to go on trial this week but instead pleaded guilty to the felony charges of criminal exposure to HIV, statutory rape by an authority figure and solicitation of a minor.

Investigators say Conner, then 26, met a 16-year-old boy on social media in 2015 and had unprotected sex several times in Conner’s vehicle. Soon after, the teen joined Conner’s dance team, the Infamous Dancerettes, and the relationship continued through text messages.

Prosecutors say Conner was diagnosed with HIV in 2012 but didn’t tell the teen before they had unprotected sex. In August 2016 after the teen heard about Conner’s diagnosis, he told his parents the two had sex and he thought he should be tested. The teen later tested positive for HIV.

Conner once appeared on the Lifetime reality TV show “Bring It." Set in Jackson, Mississippi, the show featured competitive dance teams in the Mid-South, including Conner’s team in Memphis.

Conner is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 20. He has two similar cases pending with sexual partners ages 17 and 24.

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