Disgraced Ex-Oklahoma senator ordered to pay over $125,000 to child sex victim

Ralph Allen Lee Shortey has been ordered to pay $125,850.00 to the victim he was convicted of obtaining for commercial sex, according to Oklahoma City’s Robert J. Troester of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Shortey pleaded guilty on November 30, 2017, to one count of child sex trafficking.  He admitted to soliciting a minor identified as “John Doe” to engage in a commercial sex act on March 8 and 9, 2017.  Shortey was serving as an Oklahoma State Senator at the time of the offense. 

He resigned in March 2017, shortly after his conduct led the Cleveland County District Attorney to charge him with state crimes.

A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment against Shortey on September 5, 2017.  That indictment included three counts relating to child pornography: emailing videos of a prepubescent girl and young boys in October 2013 and producing child pornography by persuading John Doe to send him a sexually explicit image.  As a result of a plea agreement, the United States dismissed these counts.

On September 17, 2018, Shortey was sentenced 15 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

On January 31, 2019, the court conducted an evidentiary hearing to determine how much Shortey must pay his victim.  Dr. Robyn Cowperthwaite of the University of Oklahoma testified for the United States regarding her assessment of the victim and her recommended course of treatment.  Based on her testimony, Judge DeGiusti ordered Shortey to pay his victim $125,850.00, the cost of the recommended treatment.

Beginning in 2016, many news outlets reported that Shortey was the Oklahoma Campaign Coordinator for Donald Trump. Shortey, a Repubican, was actually a Trump supporter and County Coordinator for the Trump campaign, according to The Skeptic Review.

For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.

(Source: Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Oklahoma)

~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter