Former Maplewood Educator Faces New Sex Abuse Accusations

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — A former South Orange-Maplewood School District assistant principal is now facing four claims that he sexually assaulted underage students while employed by the Mahwah and Waldwick school districts in Bergen County. The accusations are unrelated to his time in Maplewood.

Three of the four lawsuits were filed against Michael Healy for alleged acts of abuse that took place across the 1980s while he was employed in Waldwick, but the latest of them was filed against Mahwah Township Public Schools and a theater production non-profit called Small Town and Fancy Players.

The newest lawsuit states that around 1989, while an unnamed plaintiff was a student at Mahwah High School, and a participant in a theater production put on by Small Town and Fancy Players, Michael Healy was the director of the play.

The suit alleges that on a ride home from one rehearsal, Healy offered a ride to the plaintiff, a high school student, but soon directed him to lift up his shirt, and then began touching him and performing an act on him.

The suit alleges that Healy "sexually abused" the student over years, and did so during each theater production that the plaintiff participated in.

According to New Jersey court records, there are two other lawsuits that have been filed against the district that mention Healy by name.

What stands out from the Mahwah lawsuit is the naming of another teacher. The lawsuit states that Healy admitted to a choir teacher that he was "sexually abusing" a student.

Healy was eventually hired as an assistant principal in Maplewood, the suit says.

Read more about the suit here: Ex-Mahwah Teacher Faces 4th Student Sexual Assault Allegation

Reporter Montana Samuels contributed to this story.

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