Father Michael Amy
Diocese of Erie
Ordained: 1978
Removed from ministry: 1993
Assigned as follows:
- 1978-1979: Our Lady of Peace (Erie, PA)
- 1979-1985: Cathedral Preparatory School (Erie, PA)
- 1979-1981: Blessed Sacrament (Erie, PA)
- 1981-1985: Holy Trinity (Erie, PA)
- 1985-1988: Elk County Catholic High School
- 1985-1986: Holy Rosary (Johnsonburg, PA)
- 1985-1986: St. Callistus (Kane, PA)
- 1985-1988: Holy Rosary (St. Mary's, PA)
- 1988-1990: Bradford Central Christian High School (Bradford, PA)
- 1988-1990: St. Bernard (Bradford, PA)
- 1989-1991: St. Callistus (Kane, PA)
- 1991-1993: Absent on Sick Leave
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Fr. Michael Amy:
Fr. Michael Amy was ordained a priest in 1978 and served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Erie. According to media reports, in 1993, he first admitted in writing that he sexually abused boys in his care. According to a letter he wrote to a Diocese not identified in the grand jury report, he "took the opportunity to touch the genitals of several boys" while working at Camp Notre Dame as a seminarian in 1974 or 1975. According to Amy, one of the boys ran away and reported his molestation when he was located by Pennsylvania state police. Amy was taken into custody, but no criminal charges were ever filed. He admitted to patronizing male prostitutes throughout his career as a priest, including his assignments in the Pittsburgh and Baltimore Dioceses.
In 1991, a man contacted the Diocese of Erie to report he was sexually abused as a 14-year-old boy in the early 1980s. He was working as a prostitute to support a drug habit. Amy would give him money for sex, some of which occurred in the rectory at Holy Trinity parish. Amy was removed and sent for a psych eval at St. Luke Institute, a notorious treatment facility for pedophile priests in Suitland, Maryland.
In 1993, the Diocese of Erie took the unusual step of seeking to have Amy removed from the priesthood (involuntary laicization), no doubt due to the scandalous nature of his ongoing conduct. Information was provided that priests who oversaw Amy's seminary education had actual knowledge that he was sexually abusing children even before he became a priest. One even said, "I personally wondered when these things would resurface," according to the documents reviewed by the grand jury.
The priest who ran Camp Notre Dame flatly denied any knowledge of negative incidents involving Amy, including that which resulted in Amy being taken into custody by Pennsylvania state police.
In late 2002, a second victim reported to the Diocese of Erie that he was sexually abused by Amy as a student at Cathedral Prep High School in the early 1980s. The abuse began in the confessional with inappropriate questions from the priest and led to multiple instances of fondling the child.
Amy never returned to ministry after his removal in 1991. In 2018, he was named publicly as accused in the PA Grand Jury report. According to the Diocese of Erie, Michael Amy has been laicized. He was removed from the ministry and later voluntarily resigned from the clergy.
Amy resides in Niceville, Florida. In 2023, Amy was listed on the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of Minors list.
Horowitz Law is a law firm representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clergy in the Diocese of Erie. If you need a lawyer because you were sexually abused by a priest in Pennsylvania, contact our office today. Although many years have passed, those abused by Catholic clergy in the Diocese of Erie may have legal options, but filing deadlines will apply so please do not delay in reaching out to us.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or adam@adamhorowitzlaw.com to discuss your options today.