Report: Congressional aide fired 5 months after sexual encounter with teen boy

An aide to a suburban congressman was fired over the weekend, five months after he was found partially clothed in a vehicle with a 17-year-old boy, Politico reported Monday evening.

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) fired Nick Provenzano, 56, over the weekend, Politico reported. Hultgren and Provenzano could not be reached Monday evening.

According to his Facebook account, Provenzano had served as the deputy district director for the 14th Congressional District, which covers much of the west, northwest and northern suburbs.

Citing a police report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Politico said Provenzano and the teen were found together in a vehicle in McHenry County on Oct. 21, 2017.

Provenzano was investigated for public indecency and “other potential criminal acts,” but no charges were ever filed, according to Politico.

A homeowner saw the two sitting in a SUV on a dead-end street with the lights off and called police, according to the report. Once officers arrived, they saw that Provenzano had his shirt off, though the boy was fully clothed. Provenzano told officers he took his shirt off because it was “hot.”

The teen, whose name was redacted in the documents obtained, later told police that he met Provenzano on the gay dating site Grindr, which changed his age to 18. He said the police interrupted them during “the middle of their sexual encounter.”

The age of consent in Illinois is 17.