Oklahoma police released body cam footage showing the moment they found a Republican lawmaker in a seedy motel room with a 17-year-old boy back in March. Senator Ralph Shortey, 35, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of child sex trafficking last week, KFOR reported.
The married father-of-3 admitted offering the boy cash in exchange for “sexual stuff”.
The video footage, which was released Tuesday, shows the two-term senator in the Super 8 motel room wearing a white t-shirt with the Bible verse Ephesians 5:22 — which urges wives to submit to their husbands — and the words “now go make me a sandwich” printed on the front.
The video was recorded during a welfare check at the motel on March 9. The 6-foot-6, 315 pound senator appeared nervous in the video.
“I’m just trying to have a good evening,” he reportedly told police. Shortey said he didn’t know the boy was only 17. “Can you show me that he’s only 17?” he asked the officers.
The lawmaker initially said he and the boy were smoking weed and “just hanging out, talking about life and stuff,” before a police officer told him, “Whatever you’re doing, it’s a bad (expletive) idea,” KFOR reported.
“Does that make sense to you? Getting high, with a young kid, is a bad idea. No matter if they’re 17 or 20. It’s a bad idea,” the officer told Shortey in the video.
Shortey, who served as President Trump’s Oklahoma campaign chair, was not arrested that night, but an ensuing investigation led to three counts of child p0rnography charges that were later dropped in the plea deal.
