A federal grand jury indicted former Senator Ralph Shortey for crimes involving child pornography and child sex trafficking. The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma Mark Yancey made the announcement on Wednesday.
Shortey was previously charged by the Cleveland County District Attorney shortly after he was allegedly caught with an underage male prostitute in a Moore hotel earlier this year. Those charges will be dropped considering the new federal indictments.
“I believe this case is best handled in one venue and have every confidence the U.S. Attorney’s Office will prosecute this matter expeditiously,” said Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn. “It was an honor to work with the various law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation.”
Count one and two in the indictment charges Shortey with using his smartphone to send video involving a prepubescent girl and videos involving young boys from his AOL email address to other email addresses in 2013. Count three alleges he produced child pornography by persuading a minor identified as John Doe to send a picture of his penis in 2016. Count four charges Shortey with child sex trafficking for soliciting a minor to engage in a commercial sex act related to the incident in March.
The federal indictments against Shortey can be found below. Warning: This material is graphic due to the nature of the issue.
