A Cambridge city councilor was among the men named in court Friday as authorities continue hearings for individuals accused of paying for sex at brothels that operated in luxury apartments in the Greater Boston area, The Boston Globe reported.
Paul F. Toner, a sitting member of the Cambridge City Council, did not appear for his hearing in Cambridge District Court. Prosecutors alleged he communicated with brothel operators and paid hundreds of dollars for time with a sex worker.
“I caused pain for the people I care about most. For that, I will be forever sorry,” Toner said in a statement obtained by The Boston Globe. “This is an ongoing legal matter and I will not have further comment at this time.”
His attorney, Tim Flaherty, spoke in support of Toner on Friday, describing him as “a man of high character.”
“He loves his family, and his family loves him. None of us are perfect,” Flaherty said. “He’s a hard-working city councilor, and the City of Cambridge is lucky to have him.”
According to Toner’s profile on the city’s website, he previously worked as a social studies teacher in Cambridge before being elected president of the Cambridge Teachers Association in 2001. He later served as vice president and then president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association from 2006 to 2014. He was elected to the City Council in November 2021 and re-elected for another term in 2023.
Toner is one of several men named in court in connection with a brothel network that operated in Cambridge, Watertown, and the Washington, D.C., suburbs. Authorities have charged 28 individuals, with 12 already appearing in court last week.
These show-cause hearings mark the first time the names of the alleged sex buyers have been publicly disclosed. Speculation about their identities began after federal authorities arrested the brothel operators in November 2023. All three have since pleaded guilty, with the ringleader, Han Lee, receiving a four-year prison sentence on Wednesday.
When announcing the bust, then-U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua Levy drew attention by stating that the clientele included “wealthy and well-connected” individuals, such as politicians, military officers, and business executives. However, some of the men charged during the March 14 show-cause hearings in Cambridge came from more typical professions, including a software engineer and a hospital radiologic technologist.
A show-cause hearing determines whether there is enough evidence to issue a criminal complaint and move forward with charges. While these hearings are typically closed to the public, Clerk-Magistrate Sharon Shelfer Casey allowed them to remain open following requests from local media outlets, The Boston Globe reported. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court later denied an appeal from the accused seeking to keep the proceedings private.
The following individuals had their probable cause hearings on Friday:
- Steven Riel
- Nathaniel Welch
- Jeffrey Henry
- Frederick G. Rosenthal
- Timothy Ackerson
- Matthew Ellis Fulton
- Anurag Bajpayee
- Howard Redmond
- Paul F. Toner
- Paul E. Grant
- James C. Cusack Jr.
More hearings are scheduled for next week.
