Another GOP lawmaker accused....

Illinois lawmaker accused of releasing nude photos of ex-girlfriend

By SHIA KAPOS

A former girlfriend of Illinois state Rep. Nick Sauer has filed an official complaint accusing the first-term Republican of creating a fake Instagram account and populating it with nude photos of her to lure men into “graphic” discussions.

According to the complaint filed by ex-girlfriend Kate Kelly with the Office of the Legislative Inspector General and obtained by POLITICO, Sauer used the Instagram account “to catfish other men using my privately shared naked photos. Nick would use this account to direct message men with my photos to engage in graphic conversations of a sexual nature. The men believed they were communicating with me and Nick shared private details of my life.”

In her complaint, Kelly states that she filed a police report with the Chicago Police Department and that there is “an active investigation” into her claims. CPD has not yet complied with POLITICO’s Freedom of Information Act request for the police report.

Julie Porter, the acting Legislative Inspector General, neither confirmed nor denied that her office was investigating Kelly’s claim. “I do not comment on issues relating to investigations, including whether or not a matter has been presented to me or is open,” she said via email.

Sauer, who is seeking re-election to a second term in a legislative district that includes the posh northern suburb of Barrington, declined to comment for this story.

In an interview with POLITICO and in her IG complaint, Kelly claimed the two began a long-distance relationship in 2016 after meeting on the dating app Tinder. She moved to Chicago from California in June 2017 to be closer to him but the couple broke up in March 2018, after Kelly says she discovered he had been dating other women.

Both are unmarried.

“The man that I loved and honored for over two years unfortunately did not exist. Until I moved to Chicago to be closer to him, he and I would share very private photos with each other, as many couples do,” she said in an email when asked to comment about the complaint, referring to his alleged behavior as a “betrayal” that has “sickened” her.

Following the break up, Kelly said Sauer reached out “randomly” in June with a long apologetic email about their relationship and sent three dozen roses to her work.

“I quickly realized things wouldn’t change and we stopped talking again. Then at the end of June, I told him he needed to reimburse me for flights and hotels, etc.,” she said.

Sauer, according to Kelly, then transferred $2,000 into her bank account to pay the travel expenses she had accrued during their relationship. Not long after, Kelly said, she discovered the Instagram account she alleges that he created.

According to the complaint Kelly filed with the Legislative Inspector General’s office, a man previously unknown to Kelly reached out to her on July 12 on her personal Instagram account to inform her “he had been communicating for 4 months with someone pretending” to be Kelly.

The complaint says Kelly’s employer helped her determine how long the fake Instagram account had been in use based on when messages were sent, which was close to the time they had started dating.

In her complaint, Kelly writes that Sauer admitted as much. “He came to my house & confessed to catfishing men with my photos for 2 years to at least 8 men. He was unable to provide the names and begged that I let it go,” she wrote.

Kelly said she contacted Instagram, which took down the account.

A friend of Kelly’s, who asked not to be named, confirmed to POLITICO the chain of events surrounding Kelly’s discovery of the private images, saying Kelly “was incredibly upset and felt violated because these are the most personal images that a woman could have of themselves.”

No charges have been filed against Sauer.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor of law at Northwestern University with an expertise in studying criminal law and violence against women, did not comment specifically on whether the allegations against Sauer, if true, would constitute criminal wrongdoing. But she said Illinois is among the states that have a “tough revenge porn law” that criminalizes as a felony the nonconsensual distribution of private sexual messages.

Also on the books is “a crime of false impersonation, or pretending to be someone you’re not,” Tuerkheimer said. “In recent years, in which ‘revenge pornography’ or consensual image distribution has become a far greater problem, states have had to get up to speed in dealing with the issue.”

Sauer, a member of the state House Sexual Discrimination and Harassment Task Force, is a self-described “fiscal hawk” who supports term limits and transparency in government, according to his website. On the subject of ethical leadership, he states: “Corruption and unethical behavior has plagued Illinois’ past, but it does not need to define our future. Nick will work hard to lead by example and make decisions that honor the values of our district and the people he will represent.”

For the November election, Sauer faces Democrat Mary Edly-Allen, a bilingual elementary teacher, and Independent candidate Jay Murphy, a businessman.