Bryon Hefner, the husband of former Senate President Stan Rosenberg and the central figure in the scandal that ended his presidency, has been indicted on several criminal charges.
Hefner was indicted Thursday by a grand jury, according to Attorney General Maura Healey and Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley.
The charges include sexual assault, criminal lewdness and distributing nude photos without consent.
Healey said in a joint statement that the multiple felony charges send a clear message that sexual misconduct will not be tolerated.
Rosenberg, Hefner's husband, emailed a statement to reporters shortly after the indictment was announced.
"These are serious charges. They are now being handled by the judicial system. I have faith in that system and trust that it will adjudicate this case fairly,” the statement read.
“No one, regardless of who they are or where they work, should have to endure the assaults and exploitation alleged in these indictments," Conley wrote in the joint release from his office and the attorney general's. "We see every day that disclosing sexual assault can be the most difficult thing many survivors ever do."
Conley said Hefner's pattern of conduct was not simply inappropriate, but criminal. The Boston Globe
first reported the accounts of several men
who said Hefner assaulted them and tried to leverage the political influence of his husband for sex.
The indictment charges that Hefner assaulted one of the victims three times over nearly a year, exposed his genitals to another, and distributed nude photos of another victim without their consent.
An attorney for Hefner was not immediately available to comment on the indictment.
