Oklahoma police have recommended three prostitution charges against a ‘crazy/stupid’ Christian conservative and Republican State Senator Ralph Shortey, 35, above, who was found with an underage male prostitute in his motel room.

According to this report, Shortey, a member of Donald Trump’s leadership team in Oklahoma, will be charged with soliciting prostitution of a minor, prostitution within 1,000 feet of a church, and transporting for the purpose of prostitution.

Shortey was found with the teenage boy in a motel in the town of Moore on the night of March 9, after an anonymous tip was made to police requesting for a welfare check on the motel room.

Lieutenant Kyle Dudley told NewsOK.com:

On March 9 … officers of the Moore Police Department were contacted in reference to a welfare check at a local hotel. Responding officers found a juvenile male in a hotel room which was also occupied by an adult male. The circumstances surrounding this incident are currently under investigation and no additional information can be released at this time.

Shortey, 35 – Chairman of the Trump Campaign for Oklahoma – represents Oklahoma City. Elected in 2010, the senator is a prominent Christian conservative in Oklahoma politics.

In September 2015, Shortey opposed the building of a community health centre in an Oklahoma City neighborhood that would offer programmes for youth and the elderly. The center was planned to offer mental health evaluations and family planning. He said:

Most of the people that take advantage of that are people that we really don’t want around an elementary school. As you know, in south Oklahoma City, we have a prostitution problem. How many prostitutes are going to come to this location, looking for family planning services that’s right next door to an elementary school?

Oh, the irony!

According to reports, Shortey “attended Heartland Baptist Bible College in Oklahoma City in preparation for mission work in Uganda”, before beginning a political career which saw him draw up a number of bills which made him a national laughing stock. In 2012 he advocated the open carrying of guns for defence against … turkeys!

Shortey argued that he shouldn’t be required to pay fees and get a licence to carry a weapon. Here’s how he justified that:

I was in oil and gas. I was out on a lease at one time and I got attacked by a turkey. Wait until you get attacked by a turkey. You will know the fear that a turkey can invoke in a person. And so I beat it with a club. That was all I could do.

He added:

I wish that I had a gun with me. And I started carrying a gun in my truck after that without a licence because I didn’t want to get attacked by a mountain lion. Turkeys are bad enough.

The Tulsa World opined:

Open-carry is needed to protect us from enraged turkeys? Seriously?

It added:

Wild animals can be aggressive, especially during mating season or while protecting their young. But this turkey frightened the senator enough that he had to beat it death with a club? We hope it was turkey season, because you can’t kill a turkey out of season. Maybe because the senator feared for his life there is a loophole in the law. Maybe Oklahoma’s stand-your-ground law covers turkey attacks.

Shortey is full of other daft ideas, and in 2014 made it to the Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day spot.

He introduced a ludicrous and unnecessary bill that would prohibit the manufacturing and sale of food “which contains aborted human foetuses”. He also has proposed legislation to:

Abolish the state Court of Criminal Appeals and…to eliminate the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s power to review the constitutionality of laws.

Commenting on the current situation, State Democratic Chairman Mark Hammons has called for Shortey to suspend himself. In a statement Hammons said:

While a final resolution should await completion of the police investigation, Sen Ralph Shortey owes it to his constituents and all taxpayers to suspend himself from all official activities. This is far too embarrassing to have him speak, vote or represent Oklahoma on any issue.

It is reported here that the “family values” guy is married with two children.

Hat tip: BarrieJohn