Morans Get May Trial Date

The case of a Harvard professor and his wife charged with sexually abusing their grandchildren will go to trial in Middlesex Superior Court May 15, the prosecutor handling the case said.

William L. Moran, 64, and Suzanne D. Moran, 61, were indicted by a grand jury on December 8. William Moran, the Mellon Professor on the Humanities, was charged with rape and indecent assault and battery on his step-granddaughter.

Suzanne Moran, an administrator at the First Congregational Church in Cambridge, was charged with aggravated rape and indecent assault and battery on both her granddaughter, now aged four, and her grandson, now seven.

Assistant District Attorney Audrey Parr said Judge Hiller Zobel '53 set the trial date at a December 20 pre-trial conference. He also set January 12 for a hearing on any pre-trial motions.

The incidents allegedly occurred while the Morans were babysitting the children, whose parents were traveling out of state, according to a court document filed by the state. Parr wrote in a statement that the children independently said they had been abused by the defendants.

The Morans have been free on their own recognizance since they pleaded not guilty to the charges on December 10. Zobel ordered them not to leave the state without the court's prior permission.

William Moran, an eminent scholar of Near Eastern languages, has taught at Harvard since 1966. It is unclear whether the University will take any disciplinary action