The Missouri Supreme Court Dec. 21 denied an appeal from attorneys for Father Thomas Graham that the state’s statute of limitations barred his prosecution on sex abuse charges.

The St. Louis circuit attorney’s office now will proceed with a case against the priest accused of sexually abusing a boy in the 1970s. Father Graham has denied the allegation.

The ruling could mean that other old claims of clergy abuse will lead to prosecution, officials said.

Father Graham, 71, was formerly a chaplain at Nazareth Living Center in Mehlville and a pastor of St. Alban Roe Parish in Glencoe and St. Bernadette Parish in Lemay. He was placed on administrative leave by archdiocesan officials after the charges were filed in 2002.

The charge accused Father Graham of one count of sodomy. The alleged victim was about 13 years old at the time. The charge stated that the crime occurred in the rectory of the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France (Old Cathedral). Father Graham was associate pastor at the Old Cathedral from 1975 to 1980. A statement by an archdiocesan spokesperson last year noted that the archdiocese investigated and did not find the allegation to be substantiated.