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TOPEKA,
Kan. — Kansas can punish someone more harshly for having
sex with a minor if the minor is of the same sex, the state Court of
Appeals ruled Friday. A
three-judge panel, splitting 2-1, rejected the appeal of Matthew R.
Limon, sentenced to more than 17 years in prison for having sex with
an underage boy in 2000. Had Limon engaged in sex with an
underage girl, he could have been sentenced to one year and three
months in prison. The American
Civil Liberties Union, which represented Limon, and other gay rights
activists had hoped the court would declare that the difference in
sentencing represented unconstitutional discrimination against gays
and lesbians. Limon's
conviction stems from acts with a 14-year-old boy. Both were
residents of a Paola group home for the developmentally disabled.
Limon was 18 at the time. The
Court of Appeals also rejected Limon's challenge in February 2002,
but last June the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law
criminalizing gay sex and returned Limon's case to Kansas, resulting
in the December rehearing before the appeals court. Kansas
law makes any sexual activity involving a person under 16 illegal,
regardless of the context. The attorney general's office made much
of Limon having two previous, similar offenses on his record,
suggesting they helped justify his lengthy sentence. Limon
could have received a much lighter sentence had he or the
14-year-old boy, identified only as M.A.R, been female because a
1999 statute, known as the "Romeo and Juliet" law
provides lesser penalties for consensual sex when one partner is 19
or under and the other partner's age is within four years |