State Rep. Mike Connolly Calls on City Councilor Paul Toner To Resign After Brothel Hearing

Massachusetts State Representative Michael L. Connolly called on embattled Cambridge City Councilor Paul F. Toner to resign on Sunday after Toner was formally charged with a misdemeanor in connection with a high-end brothel network operated in Cambridge.

Connolly, who represents the 26th Middlesex District, is the first member of Cambridge’s delegation to Beacon Hill to make a public statement on the matter. He joins Cambridge City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, who called on Toner to resign hours after Friday’s probable cause hearing.

“I join with all those calling on Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner to resign immediately,” Connolly wrote in a Sunday press release.

Connolly joined educators and students, survivors of sexual exploitation, and the former director of Cambridge’s Commission on the Status of Women — among others — in calling for Toner’s resignation, according to the press release.

Toner is one of 28 individuals that the Cambridge Police Department has sought to charge in connection with a high-end brothel network that operated in Cambridge and Washington D.C. suburbs. On Friday, a clerk magistrate found probable cause to charge Toner with sexual conduct for a fee.

All but one of the other Cambridge City Councilors issued statements following the formalization of the charges.

Councilors Patricia M. Nolan ’80, Burhan Azeem, and Sumbul Siddiqui issued a joint statement with Sobrinho-Wheeler condemning Toner — but fell short of Sobrinho-Wheeler’s call for his resignation.

Mayor E. Denise Simmons and Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern similarly did not take a stance on Toner’s resignation. Councilor Catherine Zusy came to Toner’s defense and argued that he should not step down, while Councilor Ayesha M. Wilson did not issue a public statement.

After Friday’s hearing, Toner did not comment on his colleague’s responses to the charge.

“This is an ongoing legal matter and I will not have further comment at this time,” he wrote in a statement.

Toner did not comment on Connolly’s Sunday call for his resignation.

Connolly stressed that he has supported the legalization of sex work and Toner’s presumption of innocence. But he criticized Toner’s alleged involvement with the brothel network, whose leaders are charged with “conspiracy to coerce women to travel in interstate or foreign commerce to engage in prostitution.”

“As a society and as a community, we must reject all forms of sexual coercion and sexual violence, including sex trafficking,” he wrote. “Therefore, Councilor Toner cannot continue representing the City of Cambridge and its residents.”

Prior to making a formal statement on Toner’s charges, Connolly shared a post on Instagram written by the Title IX Aurelia Advocates, a Cambridge-based advocacy group founded by Cambridge Rindge and Latin high school students.

The Title IX Aurelia Advocates statement urged the members of the city council to call for Toner’s resignation and forcefully condemned Toner’s actions.

“Unlike Councilor Toner’s statement — which only acknowledges the harm he has caused to his own family — members of our community recognize the victims of sex trafficking and are rightfully calling for Councilor Toner’s resignation,” Connolly wrote.

— Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.

— Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.