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An Illinois lawmaker is accused of using revenge porn for a catfishing scheme.

CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP/Getty Images

Nick Sauer, an Illinois state representative, is expected to resign soon in the wake of a complaint from his former girl friend Kate Kelly who alleges the politician used intimate photographs of her to create a fake identity on Instagram. According to Kelly, 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.”

Kelly and Sauer dated from 2016 to early 2018. She found out about the fake Instagram account from another man, who contacted her and said her identity was being misused.

If the allegations are true, Sauer faces not just the end of his political career but possible legal trouble under revenge-porn laws. As Josh Marshall notes, “2018 has been a year with constant new innovations in the field of politician revenge porn. First Missouri Governor Eric Greitens. Later St. Paul Minnesota City Council candidate David Martinez posted a semi-nude photo of his estranged wife to his campaign website after she got a restraining order against him. He then got arrested.”

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