GOP rep fires top aide after he was discovered having a sexual encounter with an underage boy

Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-IL) has fired an aide after he was discovered having a sexual encounter with an underage boy last fall, Politico reports.

Sources told Politico Nick Provenzano was dismissed last weekend; according to police documents, he was investigated for public indecency after he was discovered, shirtless, with a 17-year-old boy in a car. Questioned by police, Provenzano insisted he was “hot.”

As Politico reports, the aide later told police, he “did not want to admit to anything, but stated that contact between him and [the teenager] was consensual in nature, that nobody was forced or coerced each other to engage in any acts they did not want to, and that he believed [the teenager] was eighteen (18) years old.”

No charges were filed.

Asked about the dismissal, Hultgren’s office said “Nick Provenzano is no longer with the office,” but declined to comment on why the aide was dismissed.