Shortey was a predator for years, prosecutors allege
A judge is being asked to reject former state Sen. Ralph Shortey’s complaint that he was selectively prosecuted “for spectacle” because of his position.
U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti is to sentence Shortey on Monday in Oklahoma City federal court.
Shortey, 36, faces at least 10 years in federal prison for a child sex trafficking offense involving a naked encounter with a teenager last year at a Moore hotel.
In a strongly worded and detailed legal filing, prosecutors on Thursday took issue with Shortey’s attempt to downplay his wrongdoing.
“This case involves conduct ranging from 2012 through 2017, when defendant sought out and exploited ‘John Doe’ and other children,” prosecutors told the judge. “Although he denies being a ‘prowling pedophile’ or a ‘hard-core collector of child pornography’ or ‘predatory,’ the investigation reveals otherwise.”
Prosecutors disclosed in the legal filing for the first time that the victim admitted he and Shortey were naked and had begun fooling around when police arrived at the Super 8 in Moore about 1 a.m. March 9, 2017.
The Oklahoma City Republican resigned from the state Senate later that month.
Prosecutors also pointed out again that the victim admitted that the two had met for sex before, at Shortey’s coffee shop. They identified the victim in legal filings only as “John Doe.”
Prosecutors were especially critical of the former senator’s characterization of the encounter at the hotel as conduct occurring between two consenting adults.
The victim, who was 17 at the time, has reported “feelings of isolation, fear of adults and strangers, helplessness, anxiety, depression and nightmares,” prosecutors noted.
Prosecutors called those feelings “the real consequences” of Shortey’s conduct.
Shortey was indicted for child sex trafficking because of evidence he had offered in a Kik message to pay the victim for “sexual stuff.” He pleaded guilty in November and has been in jail ever since. His wife divorced him this year.
He also was accused in the indictment of three child pornography offenses. Prosecutors have agreed to drop those counts at the sentencing Monday pursuant to a plea agreement.
The judge, however, can consider Shortey’s involvement in child pornography in deciding the appropriate sentence.
Prosecutors told the judge evidence recovered from AOL shows Shortey on that service, alone, received, possessed or transported over 1,050 child pornography images.
Prosecutors told the judge the full extent of Shortey’s involvement in child pornography will never be known because he destroyed his personal laptop, either destroyed or lost his smartphone and never returned his state-issued laptop.
Prosecutors were responding in their comments to a sentencing memorandum that Shortey’s attorney filed under seal. They denied he is being selectively prosecuted.
“The United States routinely prosecutes buyers of commercial sex from children pursuant to the same statute of defendant’s conviction, even absent child pornography charges, allegations of grooming or actual knowledge of the victim’s underage status,” prosecutors told the judge.
Moore police went to the hotel at the request of the teenager’s father. The teenager’s girlfriend had
followed Shortey and the victim to the hotel and notified the father.
Further investigation determined Shortey had been living a double life. He had used fake names in emails and in Craigslist ads to seek illicit sexual encounters or to exchange pornography with underage males, the FBI reported.
In the latest legal filing, prosecutors released the full texts of some of his Craigslist ads seeking casual encounters with males.
In one, he wrote under a fake name in 2012 that “this could be a daddy son type of thing behind closed doors.”
“Discretion is a must,” he also wrote.
In another, he wrote he “would love to have a boy to play with and take care of a little on the side . ... Looking for younger the better (legal) white or mixed . ... Please send pics. If you’re interested in my wife joining in the future, that might be a possibility also.”
Prosecutors filed with their response an FBI report on the victim’s statement to a special agent and federal prosecutors a year ago.
The victim said he and Shortey smoked a marijuana blunt when they first got to the hotel room, according to the FBI report. He said they had both removed their clothes and had “just started to fool around” when police knocked on the door.
He said he went to the bathroom to hide the rest of the marijuana. “They both had to get dressed and that was why it took some time before Shortey answered the door,” according to the report.
He said they had met a year before and he had told Shortey his age — then 16. He said “Shortey seemed a little uncomfortable at first because he was quiet but then Shortey was okay with everything,” according to the report.