CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Texts between a phone registered to Cambridge City Councilor Paul Toner and a local “brothel phone” typically began with Toner, a more frequent patron of the high-end brothel ring, asking about women who are available for sex, according to a Cambridge Police report.
“Are any of your ladies Tiki, Jessica or Acua free at 2:00 today?” Toner allegedly texted the brothel scheduler on June 14, 2023.
“Acua available at 2 15pm,” the brothel scheduler responded. “Tiki 1pm last call today, Jessica not here yet.”
“Tiki at 1,” Toner texted back before booking a 1-hour service for $340 dubbed the “girlfriend experience” with the brothel at 90 Fawcett St. in Cambridge.
The texts are among 432 communications made between Toner’s cell phone and a phone used to run the brothel network. Investigators uncovered the texts after executing a federal search warrant of the “brothel phone,” Detective Agrait Collazo wrote in his report.
The 60-year-old Toner, a former president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association who previously taught social studies to middle schoolers, paid for sex at least 13 times over roughly a seven-month period, between February and September of 2023, police wrote in their report.
On Monday night, during the Cambridge City Council meeting, Toner read an apology letter to his fellow councilors and to the community.
“You’ve all heard the news concerning my personal legal matters,” Toner said. “First, I’m ashamed to have my name associated with this case. I would like to apologize to my fellow councilors, my supporters, and the community for taking up the time of the council and the public discourse on this matter.”
“All Americans, included elected officials, are entitled to the right to due process, but some have already judged and convicted me,” Toner said. “As this is an ongoing legal matter, I will not contest the statements circulating in the community regarding this case in this forum. Because it is now before the court, I have been advised to not to make any comment on details related to this matter.”
Toner said he is grateful for the support of his family and friends and voters who say he should continue serving as a city councilor.
“I respect the institution of the Cambridge City Council, I have been an effective councilor who has carried out my official duties during my time in office to the best of my abilities,” Toner said. “I am here because I have a duty to fulfill my obligations to the voters who elected me to represent their views on the many issues before the city council.”
Toner agreed to pay for sex on several dates in 2023, according to the report: Feb. 16, April 2, May 13, May 23, June 14, June 28, July 16, Aug. 3, Aug. 13, Sept. 5, Sept. 14 and Sept. 28.
In another text conversation on April 12, 2023, after being asked by the brothel scheduler to select a sex service, Toner allegedly wrote, “I apologize. I have to reschedule. Work meeting just came up.”
Toner, a father of two who is serving his second term as city councilor in Cambridge, and former Massachusetts General Hospital oncologist James Cusack Jr. are among 11 alleged brothel customers from Massachusetts and New Hampshire identified in court on Friday.
Cusack is accused of paying for sex at least 16 times between March and November 2023.
To date, Toner 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.
Defense attorney Tim Flaherty appeared in court on Toner’s behalf on Friday. 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.
According to prosecutors, women were shuttled to private rooms in luxury apartment buildings for commercial sex, and high-powered clients then frequented those sites in “a criminal enterprise designed to thrive in the shadows,” the U.S. Attorney said.
When scheduling sex services, sex buyers were asked to make “donations” -- code to refer to a client paying for sex -- to sex workers, according to the police report.
After making appointments, the men would again text the “brothel phone” while going to their appointment and when arriving to the brothel location for sex, court documents show.
“At door,” Cusack allegedly wrote in a text to the “brothel phone” while arriving for an appointment on March 21, 2023, the police report states, shortly followed by another text, “In.”
“Rm 109. Enjoy,” the brothel scheduler responded.
In another text conversation on June 14, 2023 with the “brothel phone,” Toner allegedly asked, “What is BB.”
“Bare back. No condom service,” the brothel scheduler texted back.
Sex buyers were often saved in the brothel phone by their first name, race, and year of birth, police wrote in their report. For example, Toner was listed in the brothel phone, as translated from Korean to English, as “Paulwhite60.” Investigators traced the communications from the brothel phone to Toner’s phone, which was also listed as a point of contact for him on a recent campaign website for his run for public office.
In a text conversation on April 17, 2023, “Paulwhite60,″ later identified as Toner, texted the “brothel phone” to ask if women with the stage names Tulip or Jisoo were available that night.
“For 1hr 4 45pm Jisoo. 5pm Tulip,” the brother scheduler responded.
“OK. Ok. Tulip. Cambridge?” Toner allegedly texted back.
“Yes,” the brother scheduler responded.
“OK. Send details,” Toner allegedly responded.
“Donations for Tulip or Jisoo,” the brother scheduler responded, then texted a list of sex services and fees.
On that date, prosecutors said, Toner booked a one-hour “girlfriend experience” appointment with Tulip for $340 at 5 p.m. at the Cambridge brothel location at 90 Fawcett St.
“In the area and parking,” Toner texted the “brothel phone” closer to his appointment, followed by another text: “At door.”
“Rm 109. Enjoy,” read a responding text from the “brothel phone.”
Police wrote that surveillance video captured Toner entering Room 109 at 4:59 p.m. on April 17, 2023 and exiting room 109 at approximately 5:51 p.m., “consistent with the amount of time that Toner paid for commercial sex.”
In yet another conversation on July 15, 2023, Toner allegedly texted to ask if three separate women with the stage names Haju, Haru or Soda would be available the following day.
“Heju Haru available. What time around?” the brothel scheduler responded.
“1:00. They are both so beautiful. Would like to see Heju. Will Haru still be here later in week,” Toner allegedly texted back.
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.
Cambridge District Court Clerk Sharon Casey found probable cause for all of the alleged sex buyers. The men identified in court on Friday hail from Bay State communities including Marblehead, Concord, Exeter, Belmont, Cambridge and Charlestown.
None of the men appeared in court on Friday. Casey informed their counsel that she would file charges against all of them.
All of the men will be required to show their faces at their next hearings in several weeks or warrants will be issued for their arrest, Casey said.
On Friday, along with Cusack and Toner, Casey approved criminal complaints against the following nine other men: Nathaniel Welch of Concord; Frederick Rosenthal of Marblehead; Timothy Ackerson of Waltham; Matthew Fulton of Belmont; Howard Redmond of Tewksbury; Anurag Bajpayee of Cambridge; Paul Grant of Charlestown; Steven Riel of Laconia, N.H. and Jeffrey Henry, of Exeter, N.H.
On March 14, a dozen accused sex buyers, from communities including Winchester, Lincoln, Concord, Newton, and Waltham, were identified in court. They included: Jonathan Lanfear, 56, of Winchester; Patrick Walsh , 66, of Swampscott; Pinhao Chao of Newton; David LaCava, 47, of Waltham; Jason Han, 29, of Concord; John Doran, 75, of Wellesley; Pablo Domingo Maceira, 39, of Roslindale; Peter MacGillivray, 60, of Boston; Yihong Zou, 30, of Boston; Boya Zhou, 27, of West Roxbury; Kerry Wu, 54, of Natick; and Mark Zhu, 29, of Lincoln.
Han and Zhu were the only two accused sex buyers who appeared in court during the first round of hearings.
Attorneys for the Boston-area “John Does” identified in the black books of the sophisticated interstate high-end brothel network have desperately tried to keep their identities private, arguing that revealing their names violates their privacy.
The phone subscription of Fulton, one of the accused sex buyers, was linked to MIT by Cambridge Police, investigators said.
“Fulton agreed with another that is user of the brothel phone to engage in commercial sex with an unidentified female with the stage name Tiki for 60 minutes for the price of $540,” Cambridge Police Lt. Jarred Cabral said during Friday’s hearing.
In 2023, then-acting Boston U.S. Attorney Josh Levy said the clientele of the brothels included politicians, big pharma executives, government contractors with security clearances, professors, lawyers, accountants, and scientists.
“These are mere allegations. All of my clients are presumed innocent under the law,” said defense attorney Lorraine Belostock.
The public court hearings have drawn supporters of victims of the commercial sex industry, who said the alleged sex buyers should be held accountable.
“When you were interacting with your phone, trying to get these services, like these women are a merchandise, they’re not. They’re human beings,” Ivette Monge of Ready Inspire Act said Friday.
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 recently to four years in prison followed by one year of supervised release.
“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,” U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said.
Additional names are expected to be announced during the next round of probable cause hearings on Friday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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