Former senator cries in court over child porn charges

Former state Sen. Ralph Shortey, right, is accompanied by his attorney, Ed Blau, as they leave the Federal Courthouse in downtown Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – A former Oklahoma state senator cried in federal court as he pleaded not guilty to child pornography and sex trafficking charges.

The Oklahoman reports that Ralph Shortey appeared in court Wednesday after a federal grand jury indicted him last week on two counts of transporting child pornography and single counts of producing child porn and sex trafficking of children.

He faces up to life in prison if convicted on the sex trafficking charge.

Defense attorney Ed Blau told the newspaper he hasn’t reviewed the entire case yet and declined comment.

Shortey, a Republican from Oklahoma City, resigned from the Senate after being arrested in March when police in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore found him in a motel room with a 17-year-old boy he had allegedly hired for sex.