By Julie Manganis
Staff writer
—
SWAMPSCOTT — A former Swampscott High School adjustment counselor involved in developing a controversial new drug and alcohol policy for students admitted yesterday to breaking into the home of a colleague last May, looking for prescription painkillers.
Thomas Healey, 50, of Swampscott was spared a record of conviction on a breaking and entering charge, however, after Lynn District Court Judge Albert Conlon agreed to continue the case without a finding for two years.
The disposition, his lawyer said, paves the way for Healey's potential return to teaching or counseling someday.
Prosecutor Susan Dolhun, who had urged Conlon to find Healey guilty and impose a suspended 18-month jail term and supervised probation called his conduct "outrageous because of who he was in the community."
Dolhun suggested that as a school adjustment counselor and youth sports coach, "he's held to a higher standard."
His attorney, Michael Natola, agreed, but suggested that the behavior was an "aberration in a life of otherwise exemplary conduct," brought about by Healey's own struggle with addiction.
On the morning of May 11, Swampscott police got a call from a resident of Humphrey Street, who said someone had just gone inside the home through a window, Dolhun, citing a Swampscott police report, told the judge.
When police arrived, they spotted Healey coming through some bushes onto Morton Road.
Police recognized Healey from his work in town.
At first, Healey denied being at the house, then said he was checking on the property for the owner, a colleague.
Eventually, in an interview at the police station, Healey admitted using a chair from the deck to climb through a window he apparently pried open. Police found a folding knife on him.
Healey told police that he had looked in the first-floor bathroom medicine cabinet for pills, found nothing, and then went to the second floor.
As he was looking for pills in the second-floor bathroom, Healey said, he saw a light and heard noise from a radio or television and thought "I have to get the hell out of here," he told police.
Healey told officers that he had a drug problem and that he had been attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
The owner of the home, in a victim impact statement, said yesterday that the burglary by a once-trusted colleague has left her and her children "shaken."
"They're both afraid to be home alone," said the woman, who has installed an alarm system.
And because of the controversy over the new substance abuse policy — which bars students from all school activities even if their misconduct occurred during summer vacation or if their parents failed to attend informational sessions — the charges against Healey drew intense media attention, the homeowner said.
A television reporter attempted to interview her 11-year-old son, she said. "That made my son feel even more vulnerable," she told the judge.
Healey — now fired from his job at the high school, according to his lawyer — has been ordered to stay away from the woman and her family.
He's also been ordered to take part in drug evaluation and treatment and will be subject to random drug tests by a probation officer for the next two years.
If Healey complies with those conditions and stays out of further trouble, the charge will be dismissed at the end of two years.
Natola said outside court that his client, who has both a teaching license and is also a licensed social worker, "hopes at some point to resume a career in which he has been trained."
Courts reporter Julie Manganis may be reached at 978-338-2521 or jmanganis@salemnews.com.
