Former North Dakota Senator Pleads Guilty To Traveling To Europe With Intent To Have Sex With Child

Former North Dakota lawmaker Ray Holmberg has pleaded guilty to traveling to Europe with the intent to have sex with children.

Ray Holberg, 80, who previously served as a Republican Senator in North Dakota, pleaded guilty to “a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.”

In an email discovered by prosecutors, Holmberg wrote, “The boys rent at around $60 (sex is extra).”

Holmberg now faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In case you missed this yesterday, former North Dakota State Senator Ray Holmberg, a top Republican who embodied family values, pleaded guilty to federal charges for traveling to Europe several times with public funds to engage in commercial sex with boys under the age of 18.… pic.twitter.com/A5SBwyncJm

— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) August 9, 2024

Former North Dakota republican senator, Ray Holmberg, has pled guilty for traveling to Europe to rape children.

Prosecutors have dismissed charges of receiving images of children being sexually abused, as part of his plea deal. pic.twitter.com/mUEtStHkRJ

— 𝐁𝐞𝐤𝐬 (@antifaoperative) August 8, 2024

Here’s what NBC News reported:

A high-profile former North Dakota lawmaker who was one of the most powerful members of the Legislature 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, 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. He initially pleaded not guilty and a trial was scheduled for September.

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.

The travel charge carries maximum penalties of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.

Former North Dakota State Senator Pleads Guilty to Traveling to Prague to Have Commercial Sex with Children

🔗: https://t.co/hez1PQgaWm pic.twitter.com/9A0WprtPS0

— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) August 8, 2024

Per The North Dakota Monitor:

Ray Holmberg, once a powerful state legislator, admitted in federal court Thursday he took multiple trips to Europe with the intent to pay for sexual contact with children.

“The boys rent at around $60 (sex is extra),” Holmberg wrote in an email to a friend using the alias Sean Evans, according to prosecutors.

Holmberg, who served in the North Dakota Senate for 45 years, pleaded guilty to repeatedly traveling from Grand Forks to Prague, Czech Republic, for the purposes of engaging in commercial sex with adolescents under age 18.

In U.S. District Court on Thursday, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl said Holmberg traveled to Prague 14 times between 2011 and 2021 to purchase sex with boys.

At least some of the trips Holmberg took to Prague were subsidized with taxpayer money, records indicate.