CNA Staff, Aug 1, 2025 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
The Diocese of Salt Lake City on Thursday said it had deemed “credible” several allegations of sexual misconduct made against a Colombian-born priest, with the alleged misconduct dating to the 1990s.
A press release from the diocese said that in December it had received allegations against Father Heriberto Mejia, a priest from the Diocese of Villavicencio in Colombia who served in Utah in the early 1990s.
The diocese opened a formal investigation into the allegation, using an independent investigator who interviewed “numerous witnesses” connected to the case. The diocese received the report in July.
After reviewing the report and following a recommendation from the diocese’s review board, Bishop Oscar Solís “determined the victim’s allegation of abuse against Father Mejia is credible,” the press release said.
The diocese said it offered counseling to the victim and family members and would also share the allegations with law enforcement.
Mejia’s home diocese in Colombia “will be informed of the outcome of this investigation,” the diocese said; as well, the diocese said it would notify the two Utah parishes at which Mejia served during his time in the state.
The report would be submitted to the U.S. papal nuncio in Washington, D.C., the diocese said, as well as Las Vegas Archbishop George Thomas. The Salt Lake Diocese is a suffragan diocese of the Las Vegas Archdiocese.
Solís in the press release said he “apologize[d] to [the victim] for the sexual abuse” inflicted by the priest.
“No one should experience such trauma, especially from any member of the clergy,” the bishop said. “I personally pray and hope for your complete healing, peace, and that of your family.”
In its press release the diocese noted that Mejia “was permanently removed from ministry in the diocese” prior to leaving Utah in 1992.
The diocese did not immediately respond to a query on Friday seeking more information about the removal of Mejia’s ministry privileges in the diocese in the 1990s.
The Salt Lake Tribune, however, reported this week that Mejia had his faculties stripped in the diocese after an abuse allegation in August 1991.
The paper noted that Mejia had been included on a list of credibly accused priests in 2019.
The Tribune reported that Mejia’s victim, who had been considering the priesthood, said he felt “isolated [and] unsafe” for years after the abuse and that the traumatic event led him to turn away from the priesthood.
“I’m sure there are a lot of victims like me who are still devout Catholics with a complicated relationship to the Church because of this,” he told the paper, “who didn’t lose their faith over it and want to still stay connected.”
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
PRESS RELEASE
Response from Dr. William Hambleton to Diocesan Determination of Clergy Misconduct
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 1, 2025
Salt Lake City, UT — I am grateful that Bishop Oscar Solis and the Diocese of Salt Lake City have finally acknowledged and apologized for the sexual abuse I endured at the hands of Fr. Heriberto Mejia from 1991–1992, beginning when I was 16 years old.
Despite this long-overdue apology, I remain deeply disappointed by my meeting with Bishop Oscar Solis and Fr. John Evans on July 31, 2025. While Bishop Solis acknowledged the abuse I suffered at the hands of Fr. Mejia, he continued to shield Msgr. Robert Bussen and Msgr. Terrence Fitzgerald from accountability. Over the past seven months, I have provided Bishop Solis with substantial information suggesting that both Bussen and Fitzgerald played direct roles in concealing Mejia’s misconduct. Nevertheless, Bishop Solis confirmed only that an internal review of these claims has recently begun, without offering any further detail.
During the meeting, I reiterated the following serious concerns, which Bishop Solis has been aware of for several months:
● According to diocesan records, allegations of sexual abuse against Fr. Mejia date back to August 1991. At that time, Msgr. Robert Bussen was serving as Vicar General, yet failed to remove Mejia from ministry for fourteen months, and failed to report the allegations to law enforcement at all—in direct violation of diocesan policy. As a result of Bussen’s inaction, Mejia continued to abuse me for another year.
● In a personal letter to me dated February 20, 2025, Bishop Solis stated that he confronted Msgr. Fitzgerald regarding an allegation of sexual misconduct. Fitzgerald subsequently resigned as Special Assistant to the Bishop—a position he had held for eight years.
● Bishop Solis has also been provided with a statement affirming that Msgr. Fitzgerald told others that he routinely destroyed official documents when they were critical of the Diocese of Salt Lake City or its priests.
I urge Bishop Solis to take meaningful steps toward justice. This includes the removal of priestly faculties from both Msgr. Robert Bussen and Msgr. Terrence Fitzgerald. Collectively, these two men held the office of Vicar General for thirty years. Their moral and administrative failures contributed to a culture of sexual abuse and misconduct. Revoking their priestly faculties would represent a necessary step toward the transparency and accountability that the Diocese of Salt Lake City has yet to fully embrace under Bishop Solis’s leadership.
William Hambleton, Ed.D.