St. Louis (AP)

A state appeals court Tuesday affirmed its stance that no time limit applies to prosecuting someone for sodomy, upholding its ruling in the case of a Roman Catholic priest accused of child sex abuse during the 1970s.

Given the latest 3-0 ruling by the Missouri Court of Appeals, the Rev. Thomas Graham's attorney plans to ask the Missouri Supreme Court to take up what he called a potential watershed case "of profound significance."

The appeals court in July reversed a St. Louis Circuit Court judge who ruled that too much time had passed for Graham to be charged with the crime. Graham's attorney asked the appeals court to reconsider and the panel again ruled in the state's favor, declaring that no statute of limitations applied for prosecution of crimes punishable under Missouri law by death or life imprisonment.

Graham, 70, was indicted in 2002 on a charge of performing oral sex on a teenage boy, allegedly between January 1975 and December 1978. He was released on bond.