(AgapePress) - The Attorney General of Kansas is fighting efforts by a man convicted of criminal sodomy involving a minor to have his sentence overturned.

Matthew Limon was 18 years old in 2000 when he committed and was convicted of criminal sodomy involving a 14-year-old boy. Limon received a 17-year jail sentence because it was his third criminal conviction for sex crimes involving children.

But now Limon says he should have been convicted of "unlawful voluntary sexual relations," which results in a lighter penalty. A year before the incident for which Limon was charged, Kansas's legislature had enacted what has been called the "Romeo and Juliet" law, which was designed to separate consensual teen-age sexual relationships from cases of adult exploitation of young children.

The Kansas legislation lessens penalties for illicit but consensual sexual relations between adults under 19 and children between 14 and 16, if their ages are less than four years apart. However, the law only applies when the sexual "partners" are male and female. Had Limon or the 14-year old been female, Limon's maximum sentence would have been 15 months.

That distinction has caused the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights organizations to get involved in Limon's appeal. The legal challenge is believed to be the first of its kind to reach a U.S. appellate court, which may turn it into a test case for homosexual-rights activists nationwide.

Kansas Attorney General Phil Kline says the separation of powers is at stake. He feels the ACLU needs to confess its arguments, which may be muddying the genuine issues somewhat.

"The argument about whether Mr. Limon's sentence is fair is a legislative debate, but the ACLU is not saying that. They're saying the legislature cannot and does not have the constitutional right to define the penalty here. And therefore, [the litigants] have these broad constitutional principles that they have to argue," Kline says.

Limon's attorneys also claim the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Lawrence v. Texas -- a case involving adult homosexual sodomy -- should force the Kansas court to vacate his conviction.

Kline says Limon's appeal could have far-reaching implications.

"If the ACLU wins in the thrust of their arguments, it means the state has no right to say that it is illegal for an adult to have sex with a 13-year-old child," the Attorney General says. He also fears that in cases where children are involved, such an outcome would jeopardize parental authority.

Another concern is that the Limon case might also impact marriage laws, opening up the legal definition of marriage to include homosexual and polygamist unions.

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