Diocese of Salt Lake City affirms credible abuse allegation against Colombian-born priest

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.”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/265729/diocese-of-salt-lake-city-affirms-credible-abuse-allegation-against-colombian-born-priest