In The News

The Boston Globe
January 23, 2008

Officer indicted in abuse case: Girlfriend alleges beatings, threat.

By Milton J. Valencia

A Duxbury police officer has been indicted in Norfolk Superior Court on charges he beat and threatened to kill his girlfriend, a police officer from Milton, in what prosecutors called a case of ongoing abuse.

At one point, the officer, Sean P. Moran, allegedly pointed a gun at his girlfriend and told her he would kill her and himself if she ever told anyone.

Moran was indicted on charges of armed assault with intent to murder; intimidating a witness; assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a gun; malicious destruction of property exceeding $250; three counts of assault and battery; and one count of threatening to commit a crime.

He has been held at the county jail in Dedham since November, when he was declared a safety risk under the state's dangerousness statute, which allows for his incarceration for at least 90 days.

Moran is expected to be arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court, and a judge at that time will determine whether to release him or set bail once the 90-day incarceration expires. An arraignment date has not been set.

Town Manager Richard R. MacDonald, the town's hiring authority, will decide whether to hold an administrative hearing that will determine Moran's employment with the town. Police have conducted an internal affairs investigation and sent a report to MacDonald, said Chief Mark M. Deluca.

Police confiscated Moran's badge and service weapon after his arrest. His girl- friend also had a restraining order placed against him.

Moran was arrested in Quincy in early November after he allegedly beat his girlfriend after a night of drinking at a party she threw for him for his 30th birthday. He allegedly banged her head against a fence, and smashed the dashboard of a truck she rented after she tried to bring him home and calm him down. The girlfriend, who is two years younger than Moran, fled to her mother's home in Milton and called police in that department, including her chief, Richard G. Wells Jr. The Globe is not naming the woman in accordance with its policy of not identifying alleged victims of domestic abuse.

Police in Quincy, where Moran and his girlfriend lived together, were notified and he was arrested at the home without incident.

The girlfriend told police that the attack had been the latest of what she called ongoing abuse. The two had been dating for two years, she said, and in that time Moran threw her against a wall and broke furniture. Just weeks before the November incident, Moran allegedly pointed a gun at his girlfriend and ordered her to leave the home.

Then, he pointed the gun at himself and said he would kill both of them if she ever told anyone.

Toni Troop, a spokeswoman for Jane Doe Inc., a statewide coalition against domestic violence and sexual assault, said the case involving Moran and his girlfriend had all the makings of a relationship that could have turned more violent. His access to a gun and alleged history of violence were risk factors that should be taken seriously.

"It appears all of these factors contributed to the indictment being sought by the district attorney, and we applaud him for taking them seriously," she said. "Too often, we see those risk factors go without due diligence on the part of the court system."

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.

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