A powerful former North Dakota lawmaker pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.
Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks, admitted in court that he had paid young male masseuses, with some of whom he had sexual contact, during multiple visits to the Czech Republic, though he said he did not know for certain how old they were.
Holmberg was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material. The Republican served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022.
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Under a plea agreement he signed in June, Holmberg agreed to plead guilty to the former charge, and prosecutors would move to dismiss the latter and recommend a sentence at the low end of the guideline range.
Judge Daniel Hovland accepted his plea and allowed Holmberg to remain released, with restrictions, until a later sentencing hearing. Wearing a dark suit, the disgraced former lawmaker declined to comment after the hearing.
The travel charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.
In the plea agreement, Holmberg acknowledged that he had "repeatedly traveled from Grand Forks, North Dakota to Prague, Czech Republic with a motivating purpose of engaging in commercial sex with adolescent-age individuals under the age of 18 years."
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl detailed the allegations against Holmberg, including his emails with others related to his encounters in Prague. Puhl said he made 14 trips to Prague from 2011 to 2021 and frequented a villa that one travel companion described as a brothel that had teenage male masseuses. Another travel companion told investigators that he paid for the nights at the villa because Holmberg did not want his name on the register, Puhl said.
Puhl said the investigation began around 2020-21 as child-exploitation investigators were looking into a landscaper Holmberg knew named Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier. She said investigators interviewed an 18-year-old former employee of Morgan-Derosier's who said he had sex with Holmberg in exchange for a condo association landscaping contract, and also saw Morgan-Derosier and Holmberg view child sexual abuse material at Holmberg's house.
In 2022, after initially announcing he wouldn't seek reelection, Holmberg resigned his Senate seat after The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported on dozens of text messages the lawmaker exchanged with Morgan-Derosier, who was in jail at the time. Morgan-Derosier is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence.
The judge asked Holmberg how he got "caught up in this lifestyle," the age of the youngest person he paid for sex and whether he traveled to other countries for the same purpose.
Holmberg, a retired high school counselor, said, "It was just something — I don't want to say fell into ... that I did," and "it was after retirement before any of this activity occurred." He retired in 2002. He said he had been to Prague a few times before 2011, liking opera and castles. He said he generally traveled by himself.
Holmberg said he became aware of the villa after possibly seeing it online, but said he wasn't sure how old the masseuses were or how many encounters he had with them. Sexual contact occurred with "some of them," he said. He noted that the Czech Republic has a younger age of consent than the U.S. does and said he didn't recall traveling to other countries for the same purpose.
"I've been in a number of countries and the only one that sticks out is the Czech Republic," he said.
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Holmberg has been under numerous conditions of release, including travel restrictions, location monitoring and the surrender of his passport.
On Friday, a pretrial services officer filed a report saying Holmberg hadn’t met those conditions, including unapproved Internet access, a visit to an adult novelty store and testing positive once for alcohol. Holmberg was not arrested.
The judge said he will respect an agreement between Holmberg's attorney and prosecutors for him to remain on release before his sentencing. His attorney, Mark Friese, cited Holmberg's various health issues and upcoming medical appointments. The judge told Holmberg he is concerned about his compliance.
For many years, Holmberg chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets. He also chaired the Legislative Management panel, which handles various business between biennial sessions. That job let him approve his own travel.
Records obtained by The Associated Press showed Holmberg took dozens of trips throughout the U.S. and to other countries since 1999. Destinations included cities in more than 30 states, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and Norway.
Earlier this year, the North Dakota School Boards Association returned about $142,000 to the state and ended its role in the Global Bridges teacher exchange program months after releasing travel records following Holmberg’s indictment that showed he utilized state funds when he traveled to Prague and other European cities in 2011, 2018 and 2019.
It’s unclear whether the misconduct alleged by authorities occurred during any of those trips.
The factors in Holmberg’s case make it arguably the most significant political scandal in North Dakota history, former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon said.
"You have a very high-profile politician. You have literally the worst allegation you possibly could come up with, the sexual abuse and rape of a child," he said. "And then you have the idea that tax dollars paid for the plane ticket."
In a statement, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley called Holmberg's guilty plea "an important milestone in North Dakota’s battle against child sex trafficking. Former State Senator Ray Holmberg has admitted his heinous crimes and now stands convicted of conduct that fuels the domestic and global sexual exploitation of children."
