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You are here: Home / State House / Oklahoma Lawmaker Arrested for Soliciting Sex from Boy

Oklahoma Lawmaker Arrested for Soliciting Sex from Boy

March 16, 2017 at 5:54 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Oklahoma state senator Ralph Shortey (R) was arrested after he was caught in a motel with an underage male, the Advocate reports.

“Police in Moore, Okla., are now recommending three charges: soliciting prostitution of a minor, prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church, and transporting for the purpose of prostitution. A redacted police report indicates the child’s father watched him enter a Super8 motel with Shortey and then called police, who smelled marijuana wafting from the room. When confronted by police, Shortey — married to a woman and the father of two children — said he was just hanging out with a friend. But messages on a digital device showed the politician was asking for ‘sexual stuff’ in exchange for money.”

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goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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