City councilor among alleged buyers IDed in Cambridge brothel bust

Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner was named as one of the alleged buyers of a high-end brothel ring that operated out of Cambridge, Watertown and a Washington, D.C. suburb before being busted in November 2023.

Toner didn't appear in Cambridge District Court himself, but was represented by a lawyer. Later, he released a statement saying, “I caused pain for the people I care about most. For that, I will be forever sorry. This is an ongoing legal matter and I will not have further comment at this time.”

Toner's lawyer, Tim Flaherty, spoke after the hearing of a man he said he's known his whole life, calling the councilor "a man of high character. He loves his family and his family loves him. None of us are perfect."

Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons said she intends to give Toner and his family time and space to navigate how they want to handle the allegations, while noting both the serious concerns raised and the contributions that Toner has made to Cambridge.

"I understand that allegations of this nature can raise serious concerns. Nonetheless, it is essential that we respect due process and uphold the presumption of innocence as the legal proceedings unfold," Simmons said in the statement.

But Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler called for Toner to resign, citing, "the effect the allegations will have on his ability to carry out his responsibilities and the impact the charges will have on the City Council as a whole."

Federal investigators had described the suspected clients of the brothers as elected officials, doctors, military officers, government contractors and others in positions of influence and power, but they weren't publicly identified until the first in a series of hearings in magistrate court last week — something they'd fought in court.

A total of 10 men were identified in court Friday, the second of what's expected to be three hearings in the case, bringing the total number of alleged buyers to 23.

Lorraine Belostock, a defense attorney representing some of the accused in court Friday, noted, “These are mere allegations; all of my clients are presumed innocent under the law, and we look forward to representing our clients in court.”

In a battle that reached the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, attorneys for the alleged buyers fought to keep their clients' names out of the public eye for the show cause hearings, which are typically held behind closed doors and only become public if a clerk magistrate determines there is enough probable cause to move forward with criminal charges.

For those who are charged, they have an arraignment scheduled, where they will face the charge in court.

In this case, several media outlets, including NBC10 Boston, argued that the cases should be held in the open because of high public interest and to promote transparency in the process. The Cambridge clerk magistrate agreed in December 2023. However, she denied a request to make the court documents available prior to the proceedings.

But many of the alleged buyers took issue, eventually bringing the case up to the SJC, which ruled that the clerk's original decision should stand. In the opinion the court wrote that she "raised legitimate public concerns about potential favoritism and bias if such hearings were held behind closed doors, and that these concerns outweighed the interests in continued anonymity for the Does."

They further agreed that the clerk magistrate was within her discretion when denying access to the pending complaint applications, writing.

The first round of show cause hearings were held last week. Names were read in court, but only two appeared out of the 12 men who had hearings scheduled.

Another hearing is planned for March 28.

The three people charged with running the network - the alleged ringleader, Han Lee, and the man accused of booking appointments, Junmyung Lee, and James Lee, the man who provided the apartments they used in the ring, have pleaded guilty.