Oscar Solis

I just wanted some accountability, and unfortunately, the diocese of Salt Lake City was very reluctant and very secretive, and it was revealed that documents were destroyed over the period of time and all kinds of things like that.

I tell it in detail in my book, but as I told Bishop Solis of Salt Lake City, the cover-up is really more devastating than the abuse.

Yeah, because when you cover it up like that, it shows that you're not serious about the allegations, that you'd rather just everything blow over and forget about the victims.

And that creates this image that maybe you're not doing it for publicity or for PR reasons.

And so it took that much for me to report it to the Diocese of Salt Lake City, and I had spent my years working for the church since then.

And, um, I was so disappointed in the evasion and the defensiveness that I received from, from, uh, Bishop Solis and, and the vicar general of the diocese.

And, um, uh, so it was only then, then I finally went to the press, and it, then it was after that that the bishop met with me, and the bishop did apologize.

Their investigation found that the abuse happened, that it was credible.

He apologized.

But, uh, a later investigation also found, and he admitted this to me privately, that a vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City destroyed, uh, records over a period of years that he was in power as the second highest official in the Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Bishop Solis admitted this to me personally in a private meeting that he told me I could not record, and, um, and he told me there were some canonical pen- penalties, which were very insignificant, but he refused to make that finding public.

And, and my concern was that how many other victims are out there that that knowledge would help them find the courage to come forward? I only came forward 30 years later after the death of my brother.