Ralph Shortey, a Republican former Oklahoma state senator and member of President Donald Trump’s campaign team, is set to plead guilty to sex trafficking later this month after soliciting a 17-year-old boy to exchange in a sexual encounter.
In exchange, additional charges of child pornography against Shortey will be dropped.
In March, Shortey, 35, was found at a Super 8 motel in Oklahoma with the victim, who he met a year earlier through a Craigslist ad. The two had been talking through Kik, a messaging app. The victim was looking for money for spring break when Shortey proposed he pay the boy for sex “stuff.”
“I don’t really have any legitimate things I need help with right now,” Shortey said, according to a police report. “Would you be interested in ‘sexual’ stuff”
The young boy’s girlfriend saw the two enter the motel together and called the boy’s father, who alerted authorities that his young son was seen with an older man, according to a police report.
When police arrived at the motel they smelled marijuana coming from the room. Inside there were condoms, lotion and a laptop. According to a court affidavit police discovered two unmade beds in the room and “four wet stains” on one of the beds.
Upon surrendering to police Shortey was charged with engaging in child prostitution, transporting a minor for prostitution and engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church. He was released from jail on $100,000 bond the same night he was arrested. These charges were dropped and Shortey was later charged in federal court with sex trafficking and child pornography.
Further investigation found Craigslist ads posted through an account authorities linked to Shortey. According to court documents, two of Shortey’s ads were titled “Need a boy or bromance — m4m.” They both sought a boy “younger the better (legal) white or mixed.”
Authorities found additional ads also linked to Shortey, court records describe: “One of those ads said Shorty was looking for 5-10 men under the age of 40 and that he was ‘offering this young tight twink’ for a ‘straight or bi gang bang.’ The post explains that the person he was offering ‘is 21 (looks 18)’ and has ‘an amazing boy p***y.'”
As of September law enforcement officials had not yet identified the person Shortey was referring to.
In Oklahoma, 16 is the age of consent, but when it comes to child prostitution laws victims are anyone under 18. And, according to prosecutor Susan Caswell, the question is not whether or not Shortey and the victim actually engaged in a sexual encounter, which was not clear in the initial police report.
“Soliciting refers to offering money in exchange for sex,” Caswell told the AP. “You don’t have to perform the act.”
Shortey resigned from the Senate in March several weeks after he was arrested.
Shortey is married and has several children. His attorney, Ed Blau, told the Washington Post that Shortey and his wife are still together and they have children.
Shortey was a visible supporter of Trump during the presidential election season. He was tapped to be part of Trump’s campaign leadership team in Oklahoma.
Shortey is a hardline conservative, having been known to vote in favor of anti-LGBT legislation. He is also a proponent of the birther movement, based on the unfounded belief that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
In 2011 Shortey sponsored a bill in Oklahoma that would have required presidential candidates to present their long-form birth certificates in order to be eligible to enter the race. Mother Jones reported at the time that Shortey claimed it was not a birther bill — while in the same sentence classifying it as just that.
“A lot of people are classifying this as a birther bill which I don’t think it is,” Shortey said, according to Mother Jones. “The concern has stemmed from the questions that have arisen from President Obama.”
Tim Nolan, a former campaign chairman of Trump’s in Kentucky, was arrested for child sex crimes earlier this year as well.
