SEX SCANDAL SLIPPED
Gov: Stan must quit if aware of alleged acts
Gov. Charlie Baker is not yet calling for state Sen. Stanley C. Rosenberg to step down following his estranged husband’s indictment on a raft of sexual assault charges, but said the former Senate president needs to quit if anything “implies or suggests” he knew about the alleged attacks — as does anyone else on Beacon Hill.
A grand jury indicted Bryon Hefner, 30, Thursday on 10 felony charges, and he will be summonsed to Suffolk Superior Court on April 24. The indictment says Hefner sexually assaulted one person on three separate occasions between 2015 and 2016, sexually assaulted a second person once in 2016, sexually assaulted a third person in 2014 and exposed himself to that person in 2016, and showed nude photos of a fourth person to four different people between 2013 and 2016.
Hefner’s attorney did not return calls for comment yesterday. Rosenberg was not at his state Senate office — recently relocated to the basement — on Beacon Hill, and no one answered the door at Rosenberg and Hefner’s Beacon Hill apartment.
After allegations against Hefner surfaced late last year, Rosenberg stepped down from the presidency but remained a senator. Although he and Hefner are separated, the summons was sent to the Beacon Hill address they shared. When the allegations first surfaced, Hefner checked in to an inpatient alcohol treatment center.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Baker stopped short of saying Rosenberg should resign as a state senator and said both the criminal charges against Hefner and an ongoing internal state Senate investigation need to move forward. Baker did say Rosenberg should step down if any hint of improper behavior surfaces during the investigation.
“If that turns up information that implies or suggests he was aware or knew about this stuff then at that point, yeah, I think he should resign,” Baker said.
And other pols’ behavior should be included in any investigation, Baker said.
“People need to be held accountable for their actions with respect to this stuff,” Baker said. “If it turns out other people in the Senate were involved or participated or knew and didn’t do anything, then that all has to be factored into the decision-making process.”