Judge's son accused of intimidation

The son of a Superior Court judge is being prosecuted for witness intimidation, but Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said yesterday that the incident with the Wellesley teenager is an isolated one, not a sign that violence aimed at witnesses is spreading into Boston's suburbs.

"It's creeping in around here," Keating said in a telephone interview yesterday.

"But we haven't seen any major uptick in witness intimidation issues in Norfolk County," the district attorney said.

Because his office is prosecuting, Keating would not talk about the charges against Michael Curran, an 18-year-old Wellesley man whose father is Superior Court Judge Dennis J. Curran.

The judge, who is currently assigned to Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

According to records in Dedham District Court, Michael Curran on Dec. 6 threatened a Wellesley teenager whose friend was scheduled to testify against Curran's friend, John Abely, 17, in a pending criminal case.

Curran, who is described in court records as 5 feet 11 inches and weighing 340 pounds, and Abely confronted the teenager in Brown Park in Wellesley, according to a police report.

At one point, Curran allegedly shouted, "No snitching," to the teenager, according to a Wellesley police report filed in court.

He allegedly grabbed the teen by the shirt and told him the confrontation was his way of sending a message that his friend should not cooperate in the prosecution of Abely.

Curran's defense attorney, Daniel O'Malley, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Abely's defense attorney, Randolph A. Gioia, called the prosecution of his client on witness intimidation charges excessive. "The accusations have been overstated," Gioia said. "When the dust clears, we will see that no one was intimidated in this case."

In court papers, Gioia said that the teenager who was scheduled to testify against Abely had also been arrested in that case, but that prosecutors dropped the charges.

Curran and Abely are due back in court on April 12.

According to court papers, one of the two teenagers accosted by Curran and Abely first reported the incident to a guidance counselor at Wellesley High School on Dec. 6. They were interviewed by police on Dec. 7.

Keating said his office has not yet turned to a state witness protection program as have Suffolk County prosecutors. He said his office most frequently brings witness intimidation charges in domestic violence cases.

Correction: Because of a reporting error, the number of youths allegedly accosted was incorrectly stated. Wellesley police have charged the defendants with accosting one teenager.