CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner, who is accused of paying for commercial sex multiple times at a local brothel, has announced that he will not seek re-election.
Toner made the announcement in a post on Facebook on Monday.
“As candidates have begun pulling nomination papers for the coming City Council election, I am writing to inform you that I have made the decision not to seek re-election,” Toner wrote Monday.
“I believe I would be successful in a run for re-election, and I am deeply grateful to the many friends and supporters who have reached out over the past few months to offer me their continued support and have encouraged me to run for another term,” Toner wrote.
“I’ve thought about this a lot and have decided to complete my current term and take a step back from elective office to explore other opportunities,” he wrote.
The 60-year-old Toner, a former president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association who previously taught social studies to middle schoolers, was a more frequent patron of the high-end brothel ring, according to police.
Toner allegedly paid for sex at least 13 times over roughly a seven-month period, between February and September of 2023, police wrote in their report.
A father of two, Toner is serving his second term as city councilor in Cambridge.
To date, he is the only public official among 28 accused sex buyers of the high-end brothel ring run out of buildings in Cambridge, Dedham, Watertown, and Virginia.
In March, during a Cambridge City Council meeting, Toner read an apology letter to his fellow councilors and to the community after news broke of his alleged involvement as a brothel patron.
Defense attorney Tim Flaherty appeared in court on Toner’s behalf in March. After the court hearing, Flaherty said, “Paul Toner is a person I’ve known my entire life. He’s a man of high character. He loves his family, and his family loves him.”
“He’s a hardworking city councilor, and the city of Cambridge is very fortunate to have him on the city council,” Flaherty said in March.
Toner was elected to the Cambridge City Council in November 2021 and began serving on the council in January of 2022, according to biographical information provided on the city’s website.
In 2022, Toner earned $86,505 for his role as city councilor, according to an online salary database.
In his post on Monday, Toner did not share specific details about his plans after leaving public office.
He wrote that his involvement in state and local politics began at age 12 holding campaign signs for former Gov. Mike Dukakis “at the request of my uncle who was a Teamster at UPS and was working on the Governor’s campaign.”
He wrote, “I will continue to be active in Cambridge civic life as a private citizen.”
In November 2023, authorities arrested Han Lee, Junmyung Lee, and James Lee on charges of running a commercial sex network in Watertown, Cambridge, and Virginia, where buyers paid up to $600 per hour for a wide array of advertised sex acts.
Han Lee, the 42-year-old leader interstate commercial sex ring, was sentenced to four years in prison followed by one year of supervised release.
Junmyung Lee, 32, a Korean national living in Dedham and the appointment “booker” involved in the interstate commercial sex ring, was sentenced to one year in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release.
James Lee, 70, of Torrance, California, was sentenced to 27 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Toner is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on July 29.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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