JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Former Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith bonded out of jail Wednesday night following his arrest on a charge that he had sex with an underage girl.
Smith, 29, was booked into the Duval County jail about 5 p.m. Wednesday on a felony charge of unlawful sexual activity with a certain minor, jail logs show. He posted $50,000 bond about 10 that night through Duane Lee Chapman Bail Bonds, run by reality TV star “Dog the Bounty Hunter.”
The arrest stems from an allegation made by a teenager who came forward in November, the same month the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office initially raided Smith’s Queen’s Harbour home.
JSO detectives and SWAT team members descended on Smith’s $1.5 million mansion Wednesday afternoon for a second time. They were seen at his door with body armor and rifles drawn as unmarked cruisers lined the streets around his home on Shipwatch Drive.
Hours later, he turned himself in at the police station downtown.
Smith and the teenage girl first met Aug. 27, 2019, at the victim’s workplace, according to Smith’s arrest warrant, and she told him she was underage. The two began talking over the phone and social media, the warrant said.
Four days later, the pair agreed to meet at a shopping center on the Southside, the warrant stated. The teen told police she got into Smith’s Cadillac Escalade and they drove to his home.
At some point that night, the victim told police, the pair had sex in Smith’s home movie theater and his bedroom. Then, she said, Smith gave her a ride to the lot where she parked her car.
It was then that Smith offered the girl $200, which she turned down, according to the warrant. She told police she was pressured to take the money and relented when she accepted $100.
“Smith told Victim not to tell anyone about this incident as he could go to jail,” the warrant states. “Smith told Victim that if anyone raised concerns about them speaking, to say that Smith was serving as a ‘mentor’ to her.”
On her way home, the teen told police, she called a relative and mentioned what happened. She said she asked about getting birth control.
Several days later, she told police, the two met again — this time at an area mall — and then had sex in Smith’s SUV in a nearby parking lot.
In Florida, sexual relations between anyone between the ages of 16 and 17 and someone older than 24 is a second-degree felony.
“It’s an open investigation at this point, so we’re gonna observe comment,” Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said Thursday.
Prosecutors with the State Attorney’s Office are not commenting about the active case.
“She was underage and, according to the report, she said she told him,” said Jacksonville defense attorney John M. Phillips, a former sports agent. “It’s a significant, significant case against him.”
Phillips noted that Smith’s defense attorneys will also do their own investigation and probably question the motive of the victim.
News4Jax reached out to a prominent local attorney believed to be representing Smith but hasn’t heard back.
Wednesday, an attorney with the New York law firm that used to represent Smith during his sports career said he was no longer their client and they couldn’t comment.