Sex-abuse suit revived against S.L. diocese

The Utah Supreme Court has agreed to review a portion of a lawsuit brought by two brothers against the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake and a former priest that the brothers allege molested them when they were boys.

The civil lawsuit brought in 2003 by Charles Matthew Colosimo and Ralph Louis Colosimo, now adults, was dismissed by a district court and the Utah Court of Appeals because the statute of limitations had run out.

However, the Utah Supreme Court this week granted a petition for a writ of certiorari, essentially stating it would review the case. Legal briefs for both sides will be filed this summer and, after that, the high court might schedule a hearing for oral arguments.

But the high court will review only a narrow issue: "Whether plaintiffs' awareness of sexual abuse entailed a reasonable knowledge of, or a duty to inquire about, the facts necessary to support claims that defendants knew of the abuse and failed to adequately supervise the perpetrator or to prevent the abuse."

The Colosimo brothers sued James Rapp, a now defrocked Catholic priest who formerly taught at Judge Memorial High School in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Also named in the suit were school and diocesan officials, and Rapp's religious order, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.

The suit alleges school officials knew of complaints regarding inappropriate sexual behavior with minors by Rapp, but were more concerned about protecting the priest and his religious order than protecting students. The suit also alleges that Rapp's order knew through a psychological evaluation that Rapp was "subject to very strong deviant urges" and that he had a "schizoid personality."

The suit seeks $80 million in damages.

Rapp currently is serving a 40-year prison term in Oklahoma for molesting a boy there.

"We're very pleased the highest court in our state has decided to look at our issue," said Larry Keller, lawyer for the Colosimos. "If they had denied it, we had no place to go.

"They have given us one more opportunity to convince the courts of our state there should be justice for these men who have suffered terribly from abuse at the hands of a priest they were taught to revere and respect."

Matthew McNulty, attorney for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake, said he was not surprised by the Supreme Court decision to review the case.

"This is too public a question to expect courts not to want to rule on it," McNulty said. "We're not overly troubled with the decision, and we look forward to working through this issue."

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