Father Patrick Healy
Diocese of Erie
Ordained: 1966
Died: 1999
Assigned as follows:
1967-1972: Ss. Cosmas and Damian Church (Punxsutawney, PA)
1970-1972: “Newman Apostolate,” Indiana State College (Punxsutawney, PA)
1973-1976: Sacred Heart Church (Sharon, PA)
1977-1978: Immaculate Conception Church (Osceola Mills, PA)
1979-1980: St. Joseph’s Church (Warren, PA)
1981-1982: Holy Cross Church (Fairview, PA)
1983-1988: St. Bibiana Church (Galeton, PA)
1989-1995: Immaculate Heart Church (Mercer, PA)
1996-2002: State Correctional Facility (chaplain)
1998-1999: St. Catherine’s Church (DuBois, PA)
Summary of Sexual Abuse Allegations against Fr. Patrick Healy:
Father Patrick Healy was ordained a priest in 1966 and served in multiple parishes in the Diocese of Erie. According to media reports, he was first publicly identified as an accused priest in October 2018, when the Diocese of Erie added him to its list of credibly accused priests. No information about the number of allegations against Lechner was disclosed. Nor have any details such as the age/gender of the alleged victim(s) or the Lechner’s assignment(s) at the time of the abuse been released.
According to the Diocese of Erie’s statement, a priest appearing on its list of accused priests, “was credibly accused of actions that, in the diocese’s judgment, disqualify that person from working with children. Such actions could include the use of child pornography, furnishing pornography to minors, corruption of minors, violating a child-protection policy, failure to prevent abuse that they knew to be happening, and — in some cases — direct physical sexual abuse or sexual assault of minors. Allegations were corroborated by secular legal proceedings, canon law proceedings, self-admission by the individual, or threshold evidence (as defined in the Child Protection Policy).”
The Diocese of Erie said it received its first allegation against Healy after he died in 1999. At the time of his death, he was a priest in good standing.
According to a list maintained by Bishop Accountability.org, Father Healy was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 17-year-old girl over a period of several years beginning in approximately 1966. At the time the sexual abuse began, Father Healy was serving at Saints Cosmas and Damian Church in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and the girl was a student at the affiliated Saints Cosmas and Damian High School in Punxsutawney.
The alleged abuse took place in the rectory affiliated with Saints Cosmas and Damian Church on over 100 occasions. Father Healy reportedly fondled the girl’s breasts and vagina and forced the girl to perform oral sex on him.
The claim settled in 2020 in the low six figures.
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 now have legal options to recover damages due to a compensation fund created for victims.
Contact us at 888-283-9922 or [email protected] to discuss your options today.