PLAISTOW — A Plaistow nanny and her boyfriend will spend time behind bars after admitting to stealing nearly $30,000 in jewelry from a home where she worked.

Jessica Senter, 24, of 25 Elm St. in Plaistow and Jakub Councilman, 26, of 90 Main St. in Atkinson pleaded guilty Monday in Haverhill, Mass., District Court to larceny charges stemming from a theft in May from a residence in Groveland, Mass.

Senter was sentenced to a year in prison while Councilman will serve six months.

According to a Groveland police affidavit, the victims hired Senter as a part-time nanny for their child in November 2010 after finding her through the website Sittercity.com. Senter became full time in March 2012 and was given a key to the home, a car, a cell phone and had access to the victims’ residence while they were at work, police said.

The couple also allowed Councilman, Senter’s boyfriend, to access the residence while Senter was caring for their child.

The victims became suspicious on May 16 when they couldn’t find a $4,600 diamond tennis bracelet and then noticed that all of the jewelry was missing from a jewelry box. They told police that about 32 items were gone with a value of $25,000 to $30,000.

“The victims stated that the house had no sign of forced entry and nothing was out of order, no money or electronics were missing,” police wrote in the affidavit.

During the investigation, police recovered many of the stolen items from pawn shops in Plaistow and Salem.

The victims later found a drill, computer and a leaf blower missing from the basement, police said.

Senter was investigated and faced charges for similar incidents in Haverhill and Newburyport, Mass., police said. In 2010, police found that Senter and Councilman had pawned a “large amount of jewelry” and that she was fired as a nanny for a family in Newburyport. One of the residents said she had a jewelry business and denied Senter’s claims that she was given jewelry in exchange for payment as a nanny, the affidavit said.

In 2011, Senter was hired as a nanny for a Haverhill family who later found some $2,000 missing from their residence. At the time of the Groveland thefts, Senter was on probation in the Haverhill case.

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Jason Schreiber may be reached at jschreiber@newstote.com.
jschreiber@newstote.com