FRAMINGHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - A now-former Framingham city official has been charged with attempted child rape after police said they caught him in an undercover sex sting.
Officers arrested Jim Norton, 57, of Framingham, as well as two other men, at the Red Roof Inn last Thursday. All three men are accused of trying to pay who they thought was an underage girl for sex.
Norton was Vice-Chair of the Framingham Planning Board until days ago. He also previously ran for city council, but lost.
Court documents revealed the men, including Norton, responded to online sex ads created by undercover officers. After arranging over text message to meet up, court documents show Norton hesitated when the undercover agent claimed to be a 15-year-old girl.
“Too young,” Norton allegedly wrote. “I don’t want to sit in jail.”
On December 18, police said he came to the Red Roof Inn anyway after the undercover officer denied any law enforcement involvement. Norton was then arrested without incident.
Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky said Norton resigned from the planning board on Christmas Eve.
In a statement, Sisitsky wrote in part, “I want to be clear that the City holds all of its officials and appointees to the highest standards of integrity and conduct…”
The city is now trying to fill the planning board vacancy to minimize any disruption of its duties.
All three men have been arraigned and were each held on $7,500 cash bail. They are all due back in court at various times next month.
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