Republican legislator accused of sharing ex-girlfriend’s naked photos to ‘catfish’ men on Instagram
An Illinois state representative is expected to resign on Wednesday after his ex-girlfriend accused him of sharing her naked photos on Instagram to lure men into “graphic conversations of a sexual nature.”
The woman, Kate Kelly, told Politico she filed an official complaint accusing Nick Sauer, a first-term Republican seeking re-election, of creating an Instagram account pretending to be her, posting nude pictures she had sent him in private, to “catfish” men.
“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,” Kelly’s complaint filed by the Office of the Legislative Inspector General read, quoted in Politico.
Sauer’s Twitter account was disabled on Wednesday shortly after Politico published the story, which also featured a statement by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin anticipating the legislator’s resignations calling Kelly’s allegations “troubling.”
Illinois State Senator and fellow Republican party member Dan McConchie also issued a statement on Wednesday supporting Sauer’s resignations. “These are very serious allegations and Representative Nick Sauer has made the right decision to resign his seat in the Illinois House of Representatives,” he said.
Kelly said she met Sauer through the dating app Tinder in 2016 and began a long-distance relationship. Kelly, who was living in California at the time, moved to Chicago in June 2017 to be closer to Sauer. The relationship was short-lived, as the two broke up in March after Kelly found out he had been dating other women, she said.
Sauer was expected to resign following the allegations (Screenshot/repnicksauer.com)
She told Politico the two had exchanged naked photos during the period of long-distance relationship. She found out about the Instagram account Sauer had allegedly created when a man got in touch with her via her personal Instagram account in mid-June and told her he had been in touch with a person pretending to be Kelly for the past four months.
According to Kelly’s complaint, the account had been created shortly after the couple began dating and Sauer admitted to having used it to communicate with at least eight men. “He came to my house and 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 told Politico. Instagram took down the account after Kelly reported it.
Kelly’s complaint also mentioned she filed a police report with the authorities in Chicago, who are currently investigating the claims. No charges against Sauer have been filed as yet.
