The judges said Ralph and Charles Colosimo failed to prove limits on how long victims of sexual abuse have to file lawsuits should be set aside in their case.

The brothers sued the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City and Judge Memorial Catholic High School in 2003, alleging officials knew the Rev. James F. Rapp, a former teacher, was a pedophile but did nothing to stop him from abusing them three decades earlier.

Utah law typically gives sexual abuse victims four years after they turn 18 to file suits, but the brothers - now in their 40s - argued they did not realize Rapp's history of molestation until seeing a May 2002 article about him in The Washington Post.

Rapp is now defrocked and serving a 40-year prison term for molesting an Oklahoma boy.

The appeals court judges pointed out the brothers knew they were being abused at the time and that Rapp admitted to Ralph Colosimo in 1975 that he was a pedophile and was abusing Charles.

Ralph Colosimo claimed Rapp sexually abused him when he was a student at Judge in the early 1970s, while his younger brother said Rapp became a family friend when Charles Colosimo was attending St. Ann's Catholic Grade School and molested him from 1972 through 1975.

Ralph Colosimo also alleged he had repressed the memory of many instances of the abuse until his 1998 divorce. Charles Colosimo made no claim of repressed memory.

Attorneys representing the Colosimos in the appeal were not immediately available for comment.

Matthew F. McNulty III, who represented the diocese in the appeal, said he was pleased with the ruling.

"The diocese is horrified by the thought of abuse of a child and stands ready to help any child or adult who needs counseling or help in any way," he said.

"That said, we think the judge's decision was the correct one, and 30 years is too long to wait to bring a matter that, if it happened, should have been brought long ago."

The suit also named as defendants Rapp; the Archdiocese of San Francisco, of which the Utah diocese is a part; the Ohio-based Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, which trained and ordained Rapp; and three of Rapp's superiors at Judge, then-principal Thomas P. O'Neill, then-vice principal W. Ivan Cendese and then-guidance counselor Francis J. Gross.