A former Republican state Senator from
Oklahoma was sentenced Monday on federal charges of child sex
trafficking.
Ralph Shortey, 36, was given a 15 year
prison sentence.
Shortey was arrested in March, 2017.
According to investigators, Shortey was found with a then-17-year-old
runaway boy at a Super 8 motel in Moore, Oklahoma with evidence of
condoms and a smell of marijuana. Police said the two met about a
year earlier through a Craigslist personal encounter ad.
Shortly after his arrest, Shortey
resigned his Senate seat.
In November, prosecutors dropped three
child pornography charges against Shortey in exchange for a guilty
plea.
“I have destroyed my family. By
leading a double life, I've sinned for the past few years,” Shortey
said during his hearing, referring to his daughters and former wife.
In the Senate, Shortey, a graduate of
Heartland Baptist Bible College and an early supporter of President
Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, regularly voted with his Republican
colleagues on bills that targeted the LGBT community.