Former state legislator takes plea deal in sexual photos case, gets 90 days in jail

Former state Rep. Nick Sauer pleaded guilty Monday to attempted nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 24-months probation.

The Lake Barrington resident also was ordered to perform 120 public service hours as part of a plea agreement, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.

Sauer had been scheduled to stand trial Monday in the case before Judge Patricia Fix. During his arraignment in February 2019, Sauer pleaded not guilty to a dozen criminal charges alleging he posted nude images of two woman online without their consent.

The attempted nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images is a Class A misdemeanor, according to the state’s attorney’s office. He’ll begin serving his jail sentence Dec. 29.

A former girlfriend alleged Sauer posted nude photos of her on Instagram between March and July of 2018. A second woman came forward after seeing a news story saying images of her were posted in September and October of 2017.

When the allegations surfaced, Sauer was in his first term representing the 51st District, which at the time included much of central Lake County and a small part of Cook County. He had been running for reelection to a second 2-year term.

He resigned Aug. 1, 2018, following a Politico report. According to Politico, a former girlfriend of Sauer’s filed a complaint with the Illinois legislative inspector general’s office accusing him of creating an Instagram account under her name and posting nude photos of her to lure men into graphic discussions.

Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart in a statement said the victims were consulted on all plea negotiations and submitted prepared statements to be read in advance but regretted there were technical problems with the court’s Zoom feed.

“The veteran prosecutors, who have been working on this case since 2018, worked very hard to hold this offender accountable through a jail sentence and to make sure he is monitored closely by probation in order to protect the community,” Rinehart said in the statement.

“Regardless of whether the case was a misdemeanor or a felony, he never would have been required to register as a sex offender under the current law,” he added.