LYNN — A former Swampscott High School counselor who admitted to breaking into a co-worker’s house last May — in what prosecutors said was an attempt to steal drugs — avoided jail time during a hearing Thursday in Lynn District Court.
Assistant District Attorney Susan Dolhun asked District Court Judge Albert Conlon to sentence Thomas J. Healey, 50, to 18 months in jail on the charge of breaking and entering in the daytime.
But Conlon instead continued the charge without a finding until Jan. 24, 2014 and ordered Healey to report to probation, continue drug counseling, remain drug-free, submit to random drug screenings and stay away from Patricia Hooley, the owner of the 945 Humphrey St. house where police found Healey last May 11.
Healey admitted to sufficient facts on the breaking and entering charge and the judge’s order ensures there is no record of a conviction on the charge as long as Healey, 25 Harrison Ave., stays out of trouble.
Dolhun described the break-in on Thursday, telling Conlon how police officers who had been alerted to a possible break-in at Hooley’s home caught Healey walking out of a hedge next to the house.
Officers spotted a patio chair beneath one of the home’s windows and questioned Healey who, Dolhun said, initially told them he climbed through the window to check on the house.
“The officer asked him if Ms. Hooley would approve of him in her home,” Dolhun said.
“‘Probably not,’” she quoted Healey as replying to the officer.
After his arrest, Dolhun said Healey told officers he was searching Hooley’s home for pills and “saw nothing to his liking.”
“He told police he is a drug addict and has sought professional help in the past,” Dolhun said, quoting from a police officer’s description of Healey’s answer during a police interview.
Healey worked for the Swampscott public schools for nine years and earned $79,000 in 2011 as an adjustment counselor, whose responsibilities included counseling students who violated the high school’s chemical health policy.
Invited to address the court on Thursday by Conlon, Hooley said Healey “played a prominent role” in preparing the policy and said his arrest coincided with the well-publicized debate over the policy. She told Conlon the break-in “affected my family,” especially her children.
“It really disturbed them that he would break into our house,” she said, adding, “I’m happy Tom is going to get treatment.”
Dolhun urged Conlon on Thursday to convict Healey on the breaking and entering charge, saying, “As a youth counselor, he is held to a higher standard.”
“He failed in that regard,” she said.
Michael Natola, Healey’s attorney, said the father of four was fired from his school job and faces loss of his teaching license.
School Superintendent Lynne Celli on Thursday said Healey resigned his job following his arrest.
Natola said Healey has worked for a friend’s demolition firm since his arrest. He said Healey has completed “intensive outpatient treatment” for drug addiction and is currently in counseling.
“He hopes at some point to resume a career in what he was trained to do,” Natola said following Healey’s court appearance.
The conditions Conlon ordered Healey to abide by also cover his guilty plea to violating a town knife ordinance. Police charged him with carrying a knife with a blade more than 2 ˝ inches long.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at tjourgensen@itemlive.com.
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