Dance teacher sentenced after exposing teen student to HIV

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A Tennessee dance teacher was sentenced Friday to nine months in prison and four years of probation for having unprotected sex with a teenage student, exposing him to HIV.

John Conner III, 30, will also be on the Sex Offender Registry for life.

Conner pleaded guilty in November to charges of criminal exposure to HIV, statutory rape by an authority figure, and solicitation of a minor.

Prosecutors with District Attorney General Amy Weirich’s office said Conner met the 16-year-old on a social media site in 2015. The two had sex several times, and exchanged nude photos and sexual text messages after the teen joined Conner’s dance team, the Infamous Dancerettes.

Conner did not tell the teen he had been diagnosed with HIV in 2012, prosecutors said. The teen later also tested positive for HIV.

Conner also has two similar cases pending with sexual partners ages 17 and 24, prosecutors said.