Local News

Cambridge City Councilor named in brothel case stripped of leadership titles

Community members spoke out about the allegations that Councilor Paul Toner is facing at Monday’s council meeting.

By Darin Zullo

April 1, 2025

3 minutes to read

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Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner has had five committee chair and co-chair titles removed after he was charged earlier this month with paying for sex at a Greater Boston brothel ring.

In a letter dated March 26, Mayor E. Denise Simmons informed the council that Toner would no longer chair the city’s ordinance and government operations committees, nor would he co-chair the finance, public safety, and economic development and university relations committees.

Toner will continue to co-chair the Special Committee on Charter Review, and the membership of the committees will otherwise stay the same, the letter said.

“I believe these adjustments will help the Council carry out its important work more effectively and ensure that our committee structure continues to reflect the strengths and expertise of our colleagues,” Simmons wrote in the letter.

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 earlier this month.

Community input mixed on how to address allegations against Toner

At Monday’s council meeting, several people spoke out about Toner’s response to the allegations, including Madeline Nohrnberg, a high school student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

Nohrnberg previously read a statement from Title IX Aurelia Advocates, the school’s student-founded Title IX advocacy group, at a March 24 council meeting, calling for Toner’s resignation. At that meeting, Toner read a statement addressing the allegations and later told The Boston Globe that he does not plan to resign.

“I’m ashamed to have my name associated with this case,” Toner said in the statement. “All Americans, including elected officials, are entitled to the right to due process, but some have already judged and convicted me.”

Nohrnberg condemned Toner’s statement and called on the council to push for Toner’s resignation Monday evening.

“Procuring sex is not a private matter; it is a crime that often involves the exploitation of vulnerable people,” Nohrnberg said. “Taking accountability does not mean apologizing to the people who you care most about, it is apologizing to everybody who was harmed.”

Many attendees who gave statements did so to address one of the meeting’s policy orders, which called for the council’s human services and veterans committee to “hold a meeting to discuss Sex Work and Sex Trafficking.”

Evan MacKay, an organizer who ran for state representative in Cambridge last year, called for a more open conversation to give victims of sex crimes a voice.

“It’s important that sex workers and survivors are in the room during these conversations; our focus should be on the women involved,” they said. “Right now, it seems that there are people who have more empathy and concern for a powerful politician than the women, primarily women of color and many undocumented, under exploitative conditions.”

Some residents at Monday’s meeting asked the council to push for Toner’s resignation to set an example for the city’s youth.

“The youth of this city are paying close attention to the ways in which you, our city’s leaders, are leading from a place of moral and ethical obligation and the ways in which fear may prevent you from finding our community’s true north,” said Caitlin Dube. “This is not about due process versus hysteria; instead, it’s a reckoning of the highest order.”

Others spoke out in support of Toner.

“I believe the private actions in question, for which I believe he is being made an example due to his high public profile, occurred between consenting adults, and at this point, without further evidence or due process, should only be litigated as a personal matter between Councilor Toner and his family,” said Sharmil Modi. “Councilor Toner’s worst moments should not imperil a lifetime of good deeds that have accrued to the city of Cambridge.”

City councilors, Boston.com readers weigh in

Boston.com readers recently shared their thoughts on whether or not Toner should resign, with 73 percent of readers voting that he should resign.

In a joint statement earlier this month, Councilors Burhan Azeem, Patricia M. Nolan, Sumbul Siddiqui, and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler addressed the allegations and called on Toner to “consider the impact of this situation on the City Council and his role as a leader in the community.”

Councilor Catherine Zusy opposed 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.”