Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg said his husband, Bryon Hefner, will soon be entering treatment for alcoholism.
The Democratic senator read a statement outside his Statehouse office Friday, one day after The Boston Globe reported that several men had accused Hefner of sexual assault and harassment, including groping three men and kissing another against his will.
All four men making the accusations have professional ties to state government and the Statehouse, and described incidents that took place in social settings related to their work on Beacon Hill.
Rosenberg's staff on Thursday bristled at suggestions in the story, allegedly advanced by Hefner, that he and Rosenberg were a team and that he had influence in the Senate, where he neither worked nor served as an elected official.
An emotional Rosenberg said the last 24 hours have been the most difficult of his life personally and politically. He said Hefner has never exerted any influence over Senate affairs, and that if Hefner made such claims he was wrong.
Senate Pres. Stan Rosenberg: Husband Bryon Hefner had no influence over my work in the Senate. #WBUR pic.twitter.com/DwGJngh4dN
— Yasmin Amer (@yasminamer) December 1, 2017
Here's the full statement from @SenStan regarding sexual assault allegations against his husband. pic.twitter.com/l7jUYTJT6h
— New England Public Media (@nepublicmedia) December 1, 2017
Majority Leader Harriette Chandler, the number two Democrat in the Senate, said an independent special investigator will be named to look into the allegations, and Rosenberg will remain as Senate president during the investigation.
The Senate's top Republican said he was working with Democrats to "develop a structure and process" for an investigation, and Governor Charlie Baker said a full review should commence "pronto."
Rosenberg, 68, married Hefner, 30, in 2016. The two met when Hefner took a summer job in Rosenberg's office before he became Senate president in 2015, and Rosenberg has credited Hefner with helping him to live openly as a gay man.
In 2014, Rosenberg told the Globe that he'd made it clear to Hefner that he was not to be involved in any Senate business.
Kristiaan Krause of Hadley, which Rosenberg represents, said he's troubled by the alleged breach.
"I find that any kind of breach along those lines -- especially when influence is being peddled one way or another, through the relationship, through the marriage, otherwise -- it's a very bad situation," Krause said.
In Rosenberg's home town of Amherst, Jaymie Chernoff described herself as a longtime fan of Rosenberg's. She said she was saddened by the report, but still respects him.
"I'm sure he'll do everything to pursue this appropriately," she said. "And I have complete faith in him."
Alden Bourne contributed to this report, which includes information from The Associated Press and State House News Service.
