Illinois rep fires aide after alleged encounter with teenager

Illinois Rep. Randy Hultgren (R) fired one of his top aides after police reportedly found the staffer in a car with a 17-year-old boy, Politico reported Monday.

According to documents Politico obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, the incident happened in October 2017 in McHenry, Ill.

The aide, Nick Provenzano, 56, was fired over the weekend. Hultgren hired him in 2016 as his deputy district director.

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The obtained documents state that a homeowner spotted two men in a car on a dead-end street with no lights on and called the police.

The police approached the car and saw Provenzano was not wearing a shirt, which he claimed was because he was “hot.” The aide told the police they were “hanging out” and “talking about life,” Politico reported.

Provenzano later told the police that contact between him and the teenager was consensual and that he believed the teenager was 18.

The teenager told the police that he met Provenzano on the gay dating app Grindr, which he says changed the age on his profile to 18.

Provenzano was released by the police without any charges after being questioned.