A Bartlesville resident was sentenced to eight months in prison for failing to register as a sex offender, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
U.S. District Judge John F. Heil, III, issued the sentence to Wendell Ray Short, Jr., 36, who will also serve five years of supervised release after completing his prison term. Upon release, Short is required to register as a sex offender.
Short previously pleaded guilty in Texas in May 2016 to indecency with a child by contact and received a six-year sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release. Court records indicate that Short registered as required in Texas in 2021 but did not report in 2023. In 2024, he moved into a Bartlesville residence with his girlfriend and her minor child without registering in Oklahoma.
Short remains in custody while awaiting transfer to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshal Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Augustus Forster.
The prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at combating child sexual exploitation and abuse by coordinating efforts among federal, state, and local agencies. More information about this initiative can be found at https://www.justice.gov/psc.
