The Utah Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by a mother and son who claimed the church covered up for a known molester who sexually abused them.

Using the pseudonyms "Jane Doe" and "John Doe," the two claimed both were sexually abused by George Tilson when they were children. According to the ruling, the LDS Church had received several complaints from its members about Tilson sexually abusing children in his Salt Lake County ward from as far back as 1966 up through 2002.

The appellate court upheld the lower-court decision because the alleged abuse wasn't related to any church activities.

The mother claims Tilson enticed her into his home in 1976 when she was 13 and allegedly abused her. He then allegedly abused the son sometime between 1993 and 1996 when the boy was around 5 years old. Tilson was convicted of attempted sexual abuse of a child in 1996, but it's not clear if the conviction is related to the appeals case.

Having learned of news reports about other alleged abuse by Tilson, the mother/son pair sued the former church member and Boy Scout leader, as well as the LDS Church in district court. They accused the church of negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress. According to their claim, representatives with the church not only did not report any of the incidents to police but actively concealed Tilson's behavior from its members.

A trial court dismissed the suit in November 2002, ruling the statute of limitations had run out on the mother's claims. The son's claims were dismissed on the basis that Utah law allows negligence permitting sexual abuse to be brought against "a living person" only. Many church officials involved have since died.

The appellate court concluded that the LDS Church "had no common law duty to warn plaintiffs about Tilson's prior acts of child sexual abuse" because the church had no "special relationship" with either the plaintiffs or Tilson. The court also pointed out that Tilson was not a clergy member for the church and that the alleged abuse took place at Tilson's home and was unrelated to any church or Scouting activities.

Court records show Tilson served six months in jail and paid a $1,295 fine stemming from his 1996 attempted sexual abuse of a child conviction.

A church lawyer previously said Tilson was excommunicated in 1995.

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