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Former Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner gets pretrial probation in brothel case
Toner’s misdemeanor charge will be dismissed upon his completion of nine months of pretrial probation.
A former Cambridge city councilor accused of paying for sex at a Greater Boston brothel ring will serve pretrial probation to resolve his criminal case.
Paul Toner, 59, previously pleaded not guilty to engaging in sexual conduct for a fee, with prosecutors alleging he frequented a high-end brothel network that operated out of Cambridge, Watertown, and the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Toner’s misdemeanor charge will be dismissed upon his completion of nine months of pretrial probation, court records show.
Judge David E. Frank also ordered Toner to complete 24 hours of community service, take a “community approach to reduce demand” program, and pay $2,000 to a local nonprofit fighting commercial sexual exploitation. Dozens of other men charged in the brothel bust agreed to similar pretrial probation deals, avoiding possible conviction.
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“This was the exact same resolution that was offered to all of the individuals that were involved in this investigation. So in that sense, it’s a just resolution,” said Tim Flaherty, Toner’s defense attorney and a sitting Cambridge city councilor himself.
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Federal prosecutors stoked fervent speculation in November 2023 when they arrested the brothels’ operators and announced the commercial sex ring’s “wealthy and well-connected clientele” included politicians, military officers, and business executives. But after a lengthy battle to open the alleged sex buyers’ initial court hearings, the 33 men charged in Cambridge District Court last year were revealed to have come from more quotidian backgrounds.
Toner, a former educator who once led the Massachusetts Teachers Association before seeking elected office, was among the more prominent men caught up in the scandal. Prosecutors alleged he exchanged 432 texts with brothel operators and arranged to buy sex at least 13 times in 2023, purportedly making him one of the sex ring’s most frequent customers.
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However, Flaherty suggested the case against Toner might not have held up at trial.
“In any joint federal-state investigation, there’s an inherent conflict of laws, and the unresolved question in all of this is whether the federal investigative measures that were used here would have passed [Massachusetts] constitutional muster,” he said. “Our state constitution gives individuals greater privacy protections.”
Addressing City Council colleagues shortly after he was charged last year, Toner said he was “ashamed” to have his name associated with the brothel bust.
“All Americans, including elected officials, are entitled to the right to due process, but some have already judged and convicted me,” he said.
Though he bucked calls for his resignation, Toner ultimately declined to seek reelection and left office at the end of his term last year.
“Paul Toner loves his family very much, and his family loves him,” Flaherty said Wednesday. “He looks forward to putting this entire episode behind him and continuing in a very productive and happy life.”
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