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Cambridge councilor addresses brothel charge at council meeting with no plans to resign
“All Americans, including elected officials, are entitled to the right to due process, but some have already judged and convicted me," Toner said.
Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner, who has been charged with paying for sex at a Greater Boston brothel ring, addressed the allegations against him at a council meeting Monday evening.
“I’m ashamed to have my name associated with this case,” Toner said, reading from a statement. “All Americans, including elected officials, are entitled to the right to due process, but some have already judged and convicted me.”
Toner stated that he would not “contest the statements that are being circulated in the community” and that he was advised to not comment further on the details of the charges.
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Toner concluded his statement by thanking those who have supported him despite a wave of calls for his resignation. He later told The Boston Globe that he does not plan to resign.
“I come before you this evening deeply grateful and humbled by the love and steadfast support of my family, friends, and the voters who have voiced their strong support for me to continue my service as a Cambridge city councilor,” Toner said in his statement.
Toner, 58, allegedly exchanged 432 texts with brothel operators and arranged to buy sex at least 13 times in 2023, according to a criminal complaint made public Friday. Several of Toner’s fellow city councilors spoke out about the allegations against him in statements, but no councilors besides him spoke about the topic at Monday’s meeting.
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The council voted to allow Madeline Nohrnberg, a high school student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, to read a statement from Title IX Aurelia Advocates, the school’s student-founded Title IX advocacy group. Toner and Councilor Catherine Zusy opposed the vote.
The group urged the council to call for Toner’s resignation, stressing the power dynamic between Toner and the women he allegedly paid to have sex with.
“Toner’s connection to this case signals that those involved with sexual violence are rewarded with positions of power,” Nohrnberg said. “Rewarding this behavior is a slap in the face for survivors. These women will never be in the position to defend themselves to the degree that Toner will.”
The group’s statement also addressed Toner’s impact on the community and requested that the council reflect on his power as a councilor.
“We understand that it can be extremely difficult to call for the resignation of a colleague, particularly somebody with a long history of service, and we understand that it can be difficult to leave a position of power,” Nohrnberg said. “Your example sets the standard for accountability in our community.”
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In a joint statement, Councilors Burhan Azeem, Patricia M. Nolan, Sumbul Siddiqui, and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler called on Toner to “consider the impact of this situation on the City Council and his role as a leader in the community.” Though Nolan acknowledged on Facebook that the statement did not call for a censure or for Toner’s resignation, it addressed the seriousness of the allegations.
“If convicted, his actions would not simply be a lapse in judgment of a private individual but a crime and a violation of the trust placed in him by the public,” the statement said.
Zusy disagreed with the calls for Toner’s resignation in a statement obtained by the Globe.
“He adds extraordinary value,” Zusy said in the statement. “He did something really stupid. No, I don’t think he should resign from the Council. We need him.”
Mayor E. Denise Simmons and Vice Mayor Marc McGovern each addressed the allegations against Toner in statements of their own, though Simmons emphasized that the matter needed to be handled privately and with due process.
“Concilor Toner and his family must determine how they wish to proceed, and as Mayor, I intend to provide them the appropriate space and privacy to navigate this difficult time, to the extent possible,” Simmons said in a statement.
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State Rep. Mike Connolly, who represents Cambridge, called for Toner to resign in a statement on X.
“In a court of law, Councilor Toner is presumed innocent until proven guilty,” the statement said. “But as a society and as a community, we must reject all forms of sexual coercion and sexual violence, including sex trafficking. Therefore, Councilor Toner cannot continue representing the City of Cambridge and its residents.”
The EVA Center, a Boston-based organization which provides services for women exploited through sex trafficking and prostitution, asserted that Toner’s choice not to resign “sets a dangerous precedent that in the city of Cambridge, it is acceptable to traffic and exploit women and girls.”
“At the very minimum, Councilor Toner should have gone on leave pending the investigation of these serious allegations,” Executive Director Desiree Demos said in a statement. “His failure to do so speaks volumes about his character and the values he upholds.”
Nancy Ryan, the former executive director of the Cambridge Women’s Commission, said that Toner can and should step down while still legally defending himself.
“There is no contradiction between Toner pursuing his rights under our judicial system and taking responsibility for the evidence of his behavior that has come to light,” Ryan wrote in an op-ed for Cambridge Day. “Toner is unfit to represent us and he must resign.”
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