Cambridge Metropolis Councilor and former president of the state’s academics union Paul Toner mentioned he was ashamed of his ensnarement in an enormous brothel scandal and the fees pending earlier than him for getting intercourse, however he gave no indication he deliberate to resign, whilst calls rise for him to step down.
“First, I am ashamed to have my name associated with this case,” Toner learn from a ready assertion earlier than the posted begin time of the assembly. “I would like to apologize to my fellow councilors, my supporters and the community for taking up the time of the council and the public discourse on this matter. All Americans – including elected officials – are entitled to the right to due process but some have already judged and convicted me.”
As of Friday, Toner was certainly one of 23 males charged with shopping for intercourse from a busted Boston-area brothel ring named in possible trigger hearings. Three leaders of the ring have pleaded responsible to associated crimes, together with intercourse trafficking. Twenty-eight males complete are anticipated to be named as “johns,” and Toner is the one public official named up to now.
Within the assertion forward of the 5:30 p.m. Cambridge Metropolis Council assembly on Monday, Toner mentioned he had been “advised to not make any comment on details related to these matters” and has “a duty to fulfill my obligations to the voters who elected me to represent their views on the many issues before the City Council.”
Toner was first elected to the place in November 2021 and is in his second time period on the council. He’s the previous president of the Massachusetts Academics Affiliation.
On the council assembly Monday, one highschool pupil, Madeline Nohrnberg, a consultant of Title IX Aurelia Advocates, was given permission to present public touch upon the fees towards Toner. The Metropolis Council usually solely permits public touch upon objects on the assembly agenda. Toner’s assertion was not on the agenda.
Toner was the one vote towards permitting Nohrnberg to talk. Mayor Denise Simmons voted current.
Nohrnberg requested Toner to resign and mentioned Title IX Aurelia Advocates “strongly urges” the council to name for his resignation.
“What message are we sending young people if Toner is permitted to stay in office?” Nohrnberg requested. “While it’s unclear whether his interactions at the brothel were consensual, one of the owners has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking. Toner’s connection to this case signals that those involved in sexual violence are rewarded with positions of power. Rewarding this behavior is a slap in the face for survivors.”
The intercourse trafficking sufferer advocacy group Eva Middle additionally referred to as for the councilor’s resignation in a press release over the weekend, arguing his place on the council units “dangerous precedent” concerning gender-based violence.
“At the very minimum,” the middle said, he ought to go on “leave pending the investigation of these serious allegations.”
In a press release Saturday, Toner mentioned he will probably be “forever sorry” and “caused pain for the people I care about most.”
Toner beforehand served as a social research trainer at Harrington Elementary Faculty and later because the president of the Massachusetts Academics Affiliation.
The MTA mentioned Monday “the charge Toner and others face is counter to our union’s values,” and famous he has not had an lively position within the group in over a decade.
On the Metropolis Council, Councilors Burhan Azeem, Patricia Nolan, Sumbul Siddiqui and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler referred to as the fees towards Toner “deeply concerning” and mentioned he has the “right to a fair process through the judicial system.”
“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 councilors mentioned, calling unlawful prostitution “inherently exploitative” and “not a victimless crime.” “We call on Councilor Toner to consider the impact of this situation on the City Council and his role as a leader in the community.”
Nolan expanded her assertion on Fb, including that she “would support legalization of sex work” however famous “exploitation is inherent in illegal prostitution rings, where consent is impossible to ascertain.”
Sobrinho-Wheeler went a step additional in a separate assertion, saying it’s “in the interest of the body and the public that (Toner) resign” and asking the mayor to re-assign Toner’s six committee chair positions “to ensure that the Council’s work is not obstructed.”
State Rep. Mike Connolly additionally issued a name for Toner’s resignation on X, and cited comparable calls from educators, survivors and others. The councilor’s preliminary assertion, Connolly argued, “tacitly acknowledges he was a frequent client of this sex trafficking operation” and “only acknowledges the harm he has caused to his own family.”
“(A)s a society and as a community, we must reject all forms of sexual coercion and sexual violence, including sex trafficking,” mentioned Connolly. “Therefore, Councilor Toner cannot continue representing the City of Cambridge and its residents.”
“I stand before you this evening deeply grateful and humbled by the love and steadfast support of my family, friends, and voters who have voiced their strong support for me to continue my service as a Cambridge City Councilor,” Toner mentioned Monday. “I respect the institution of the Cambridge City Council.”
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