OKLAHOMA CITY – Ralph Allan Lee Shortey has been ordered to pay $125,850.00 to the victim he was convicted of obtaining for commercial sex.
Shortey pleaded guilty on November 30, 2017, to one count of child sex trafficking. In particular, he admitted he solicited a minor identified as “John Doe” to engage in a commercial sex act on March 8 and 9, 2017. Shortey was serving as a GOP 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, U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti sentenced Shortey to prison for 180 months, or fifteen years, in addition to ten 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 this testimony, Judge DeGiusti ordered Shortey to pay his victim $125,850.00, the cost of the recommended treatment.
