An Oklahoma Trump backer is facing some serious charges after he was caught engaging with a teenage boy in a motel room.
State Senator Ralph Shortey was caught with an unidentified minor at a Super 8 motel last Thursday morning. Â Moore police say they were called to the motel for a welfare check shortly after Shortey checked in around midnight on March 9. That is when they discovered the juvenile male with Senator Shortey. The exact age of the boy has not been made available, but reportedly he is under the age of 18. The age of consent in Oklahoma is 16.
After a obtaining a search warrant, police found the boy’s Kindle Fire tablet, which contained conversations between him and Shortey pertaining to sexual activities in exchange for money. The tablet was taken as evidence.
On Wednesday, Sen. Shortey, who worked as a leader in Trump’s Oklahoma primary campaign, was charged with engaging in child prostitution, engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church, and transporting minor for prostitution/lewdness.
“There has been a great deal of interest in an incident that occurred in Moore on March 9th, 2017 at a local hotel,” said police officials in a statement made on Facebook. “At this time, an investigation is still ongoing. The Moore Police Department is committed to responding to and fulfilling requirements of the Oklahoma Open Records act. The Moore Police Department will be providing prompt and reasonable access to records for public inspection once the release of those records will no longer hinder any ongoing investigation and when the records have been compiled.”
Shortey is a father of two and has been married to his high school sweetheart since 2002.
