Cambridge city councilor charged with buying sex in high-end brothel ring

A Cambridge city councilor faces charges of buying sex from a high-end brothel ring that operated out of apartments in Cambridge, Watertown and Virginia.

Paul Toner was among 11 men whose cases went before a clerk magistrate in Cambridge Friday for the second in three days of hearings to determine if charges would be filed.

In an emailed statement, Toner said, “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 has been a Cambridge city councilor since 2022. He's also president of the education consulting group Cambridge Strategic Partnerships and a former 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher. Toner was also the former president of the Massachusetts Teacher Association.

"I've known Paul Toner my entire life and in my view he's a man of high character. He loves his family and his family loves him," said Toner's attorney Timothy Flaherty after the case was heard. "None of us are perfect."

In response to a question about if he would advise Toner to resign from the city council, Flaherty said he would not.

"He's a hardworking city councilor and the city of Cambridge is lucky to have him," he said.

Cambridge City Councillors Patricia Nolan, Burhan Azeem, Sumbul Siddiqui and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler said in a joint statement that the charges are "deeply concerning" and called prostitution "inherently exploitative."

"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 group said in a statement.

Cambridge police records show Toner visited the brothel locations at least a dozen times between February and September of 2023.

Calls for Toner's resignation followed quickly after the hearing, including from fellow councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler as well as Desiree Demos, executive director of the EVA Center, a Boston nonprofit that seeks to end prostitution.

A total of 28 people are accused of paying for sex from the brothel ring, which authorities say made millions of dollars by enticing primarily Asian women to engage in prostitution. Federal authorities say the brothel network, believed to be operating since 2020, generated more than $5.6 million from more than 9,400 customer visits.

The leader of the ring, Han Lee, as well as two associates — Junmyung Lee of Dedham and James Lee of Torrance, California — have pleaded guilty to several charges for their roles in the scheme

Authorities said the ring advertised on websites and screened customers by requiring them to provide their names, email addresses, employers and references. They said the customers made appointments via text messages and paid in cash. The fees ranged from $350-$600 an hour.

Authorities referred the names of the suspected customers to so-called "show cause" hearings in Massachusetts before a clerk magistrate to determine if they would be charged with the misdemeanor crime of paying for sex.

The hearings typically are not public, with the names of the accused only becoming public if charges are filed.

Last week, during the first of three scheduled hearings, all 12 men with cases called were charged. They will be arraigned on the charges in Cambridge District Court in Medford. The men are not well known.

When federal authorities arrested the ring leaders in 2023, they identified some of the brothel customers as prominent, describing them as elected officials, military officers, government contractors with security clearance and business executives.

Local media outlets, including WBUR, sought to keep the hearings open and requested documents related to the case. The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled the hearings would be open to the public.

Earlier this week, Han Lee was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of money laundering and coercing individuals to engage in prostitution.

“Han Lee didn’t just recruit women to sell their bodies for sex — she built a criminal enterprise designed to thrive in the shadows, evading law enforcement while profiting off her victims like commodities,” said Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley in a statement after the sentencing.

The final "show-cause" hearings are scheduled for next Friday.