HARRISBURG — The two Penn State administrators awaiting trial for failing to properly report suspected child abuse by Jerry Sandusky argue in a new court filing that the charge should be dismissed because the statute of limitations has expired.

Gary Schultz and Tim Curley filed a response this week to an effort by state prosecutors to keep the charge in place for trial, now scheduled to begin early next year.

The attorney general’s office last month said the two men had a continuing duty to go to authorities after fielding a 2001 complaint by graduate assistant Mike McQueary about Sandusky in a shower with a young boy.

Under a 10-year statute of limitations, lawyers said the clock would have run out in early 2011, nearly a year before Curley, Schultz and Sandusky were charged. Schultz is the retired university vice president, and Curley is on paid leave as athletic director.