This whole case is an outrage....

The authorities in Kansas are once again trying to punish a gay man more harshly for straights for consensual underage sex.

Matthew R. Limon, whose case resulted in the Kansas Supreme Court saying the state can't punish underage sex more harshly if it involves homosexuals, will be back in court next week on a new charge in the same case.

Miami County Attorney David Miller said he filed a charge Friday of unlawful voluntary sexual relations against Limon in the case that resulted in the high court's ruling last month. His first appearance is Wednesday morning before District Judge Richard Smith in Paola.

Miller said his goal is for Limon to be put on parole for up to five years, not to send him back to prison.

In 2000, Limon, then 18, was sentenced to 17 years in prison on a charge of criminal sodomy for performing a sex act on a 14-year-old boy at a Paola group home for the developmentally disabled.

Had one of them been a girl, Limon could have faced only 15 months under the state's "Romeo and Juliet" law allowing lighter punishment for teenage sex when the partners are of the opposite sex.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court ordered Limon resentenced as if the law treated illegal gay sex and illegal straight sex the same. It also struck the language from the law that resulted in the different treatment.

Because Limon had already served more than four years in prison, he doesn't have to serve any more prison time. But Miller wants Limon to be under the supervision of the Department of Corrections, and he said, "That couldn't happen unless he was recharged and went through the judicial process."