BOSTON (AP/WHDH) – The husband of Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst) is being accused of sexual misconduct in a bombshell story released by the Boston Globe early Thursday afternoon.
According to the Globe, four men accused Rosenberg’s husband, Bryon Hefner, of sexual misconduct. The man claim Hefner groped and harassed them, with one saying Hefner kissed him against his will. Some of the men said they were at the State House for business.
Hefner first made headlines after he was critical of the outgoing Senate president on Twitter and later bragged he would be able to use his influence as the Senate president’s partner.
Rosenberg released a statement shortly after the story broke, saying, “This is the first I have heard about these claims. Even though, based on what little I have been told, these allegations do not involve members or employees of the senate and did not occur in the state house, I take them seriously. To the best of my recollection, I was not approached by anyone with complaints during or after the alleged incidents made in this article or I would have tried to intervene.”
Given a persisting national conversation about sexual assault, and following rumors that such incidents have happened on Beacon Hill, Rosenberg was on record as saying he has a zero-tolerance policy.
Gov. Charlie Baker (R-Mass.) called the allegations “disturbing” and “distressing.”
“I think it’s really important for the Senate, as soon as possible, to conduct a thorough investigation of these allegations,” said Baker.
Baker said it should be up to the Senate to decide if Rosenberg should step down as president.
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