OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The Latest on an Oklahoma state senator facing child prostitution charges (all times local):
10:10 a.m.
Oklahoma prosecutors have filed child prostitution charges against a Republican state senator after police found him in a hotel room a 17-year-old boy.
Cleveland County prosecutors charged 35-year-old Ralph Shortey on Thursday with engaging in child prostitution, transporting a minor for prostitution and engaging in prostitution within 1,000 feet of church. An arrest warrant has been issued for him.
Moore police say that acting on a tip from the teen's father, they went to the Super 8 Hotel last week and smelled marijuana coming from a room. They found Shortey and the teen alone inside.
The age of consent in Oklahoma is 16.
Shortey has not replied to several phone messages seeking comment, and court records don't show if he has an attorney.
A conservative Republican from south Oklahoma City, Shortey was a county coordinator and early supporter of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.
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12:30 a.m.
The Oklahoma Senate has voted to punish a state senator who police say was found with a teenage boy in a motel room.
Police officials in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore are still investigating the circumstances surrounding an incident last week involving Sen. Ralph Shortey and a teenager. No charges have been filed.
The Senate voted 43-0 Wednesday for a resolution that imposes a series of punishments on the Republican from Oklahoma City. The resolution accuses Shortey of "disorderly behavior."
Among other things, it removes Shortey from membership and leadership of various Senate committees, bars him from occupying his office at the Capitol and blocks his expense allowances and authorship of various bills.
Shortey was not in his Capitol office Wednesday and has not responded to requests for comment.
