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The investigation of former
state Sen. Ralph Shortey uncovered
evidence he posted Craigs
list ads several times “attempting
to solicit young males for
sexual contact,” the FBI reports.
“Need a boy or bromance,”
he stated in two Craigslist ads,
according to the FBI. “Looking
for younger the better (legal)
white or mixed.”
He received “hundreds of
pornography emails and communications
with individuals
encountered via Craigslist,”
according to the FBI.
The investigation also found
Shortey, R-Oklahoma City,
emailed photos of himself and
his wife “to various individuals
in connection with arranging
sexual encounters,” the FBI
reports.
Shortey was indicted Sept. 5
in Oklahoma City federal court.
He is facing trial on three child
pornography counts and one
child sex trafficking count. He
has pleaded not guilty and is free
pending trial.
The investigation of Shortey,
35, began after Moore police officers
found him with a 17-yearold
boy inside a hotel room about
1 a.m. March 9. He resigned from
the Senate later that month.
New details about the investigation
came to light this week
when a magistrate judge made
public an FBI agent’s request for
a search warrant. The agent was
seeking information from Facebook
about an account using the
screen name Brian Tilley.
The 28-page document reveals
that the investigation found evidence
of widespread wrongdoing
by Shortey and not just the
four instances alleged in the
indictment.
He faces up to life in federal prison, if convicted. At
sentencing, U.S. District
Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti
could consider evidence of
other uncharged offenses
in deciding the punishment.
His defense attorney, Ed
Blau, declined Wednesday
to comment.
Shortey used the fake
names Brian Tilley and
Jamie Tilley on Craigslist,
in emails and on the messaging
app Kik, the FBI
agent wrote in a court affidavit
filed May 1.
“Shortey used those
pseudonyms almost exclusively
for illicit and illegal
sexual interests or encounters,
several of which
included communications
and exchanges of pornography
with underage
males, and/or the sharing
of child pornography,”
Special Agent Charles W.
Thumann wrote.
An AOL account linked
to Shortey “contains hundreds
of emails addressed
to ‘Brian,’” the agent
wrote.
In 2012, Shortey used
the email account to send
“commercial pornography”
to males identified
as 16 and 17 at the time,
according to the affidavit.
“Shortey ... received,
in exchange, videos of the
boys masturbating.”
Shortey also went by
Brinokc4u on the Kik app,
according to the affidavit.
In one graphic Craigslist
ad, Shortey was seeking
five to 10 men to take turns
having sex with a male he
described as 21 but “looks
18,” according to the affidavit.
“Law enforcement has
not identified that person,”
the FBI agent wrote.
Arrest was in March
Shortey — who once
planned to be a missionary
— was investigated first by
Moore police and then the
FBI after being found with
the 17-year-old boy at the
Super 8 in Moore.
Police reported Shortey
asked in a Kik conversation
if the teenager would
be interested in “sexual
stuff” after the teenager
wrote “I need money for
spring break.” Police also
reported finding an open
box of condoms in Shortey’s
backpack and a bottle
of lotion in the teenager’s
backpack.
Shortey was charged
March 16 in Cleveland
County District Court
with three felonies —
engaging in child prostitution,
engaging in prostitution
within 1,000 feet
of a church and transporting
a minor for prostitution.
State prosecutors
dropped that case Sept. 7
since Shortey now faces
the federal child sex trafficking
count over the
same accusation.
In the newly released
court affidavit, the FBI
agent revealed the teenager
“confirmed that he
and Shortey intended
to have sexual contact
and that they had agreed
Shortey would pay him
for the contact.”
Police observed both
beds were unmade, the
agent wrote.
The teenager also
advised he met Shortey
through a Craigslist personal
encounter ad about
a year before and that
Shortey was aware he was
16 at that time, according
to the affidavit.
The teenager said “he
and Shortey were smoking
marijuana when officers
knocked on the door,”
according to the affidavit.
He “also advised that
they had smoked weed at
Shortey’s coffee shop ...
on the second floor two or
three times.”
Shortey is accused in
one of the child pornography
counts of persuading
that teenager to send him
an inappropriate photo.
The FBI agent reported
the teenager said the two
actually exchanged photos
of their genitals sometime
before May 2016.
Shortey is accused in the
other child pornography
counts of emailing sexually
explicit videos to two individuals
in October 2013.
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[–] greycloud 2 points -2 points 0 points (+0|-2) ago
he faces up to life in prison. i personally think he should be facing a couple days of community service. the laws are shit, and i don't respect them. in fact laws and sentences like these make me think that the US isn't better than lands controlled by sharia law. then again, i wouldn't live in oklahoma if you paid me. he's republican by the way.