A Republican senator from North Dakota has pleaded guilty to having sex with minors after flying to Europe using taxpayer money on several occasions.

Ray Holmberg, 80, of Grand Forks admitted in court on August 8 that he had sexual contact with young male masseuses during his multiple visits to the Czech Republic. 

The disgraced public official added that while the victims had been paid by him at  the time of the abuse, he did not know for certain how old they were.

Holmberg initially pleaded not guilty and was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity between June 2011 to November 2016. 

He was also accused of receiving or attempting to receive child porn between the dates of November 2012 and March 2013.

But in a plea agreement that was signed in June, Holmberg agreed to admit guilt to the former charge.

In return, prosecutors consented to dismiss charges of receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material as well recommend a sentence at the low end of the guideline range.  

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

The disgraced public official added that while the victims had been paid by him at the time of the abuse, he did not know for certain how old they were

He was also accused of receiving or attempting to receive child porn between the dates of November 2012 and March 2013 but that charge was dropped as result of the agreement 

Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Puhl said Holmberg had made 14 trips to Prague between 2011 to 2021 and went into detail about his emails that described his encounters in Prague in court. 

Puhl noted that the grandfather-of-five frequented a villa which was described as a brothel that housed teenage male masseuses by one his travel companions. 

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.

A previous report had revealed that Holberg had exchanged approximately 72 texts in August 2021 with Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, who was in prison on child pornography and sex abuse crimes, The Forum of Fargo-Moorehead said.

Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Puhl noted that the grandfather of five frequented a villa which was described as a brothel that housed teenage male masseuses by one his travel companions

Holmberg also told the court that the Czech Republic has a younger age of consent than the US does and said he didn’t recall traveling to other countries for the same purpose

The attorney further told the court that when investigators interviewed an 18-year-old former employee of Morgan-Derosier’s, the teenager said he had sex with Holmberg in exchange for a condo association landscaping contract. 

The teen also said that he had seen Morgan-Derosier and Holmberg view child sexual abuse material at Holmberg’s house. 

In May, Morgan-Derosier was sentenced to 40 years in prison in US District Court in Fargo in connection with child sexual abuse images.

When asked how he got ‘caught up in this lifestyle’, the retired high school counselor said: ‘It was just something – I don’t want to say fell into, that I did.’

Apart from this, he also told the court that the Czech Republic has a younger age of consent than the US 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.

Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty in federal court to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images. In May, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison 

The Republican served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022

The Republican served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022. 

Furthermore, travel records from the North Dakota School Boards Association show Holmberg used public funding for trips in 2011, 2018 and 2019 to Prague in the Czech Republic and to other cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin. 

The trips were arranged through the Germany-based Global Bridges teacher exchange program, which received funding from the North Dakota Legislature. 

The North Dakota Legislature gave money to the state Department of Public Instruction, which essentially passed it along to Global Bridges to pay for trips for teachers and legislators.

State Rep. Bob Martinson said he picked the legislators who went on the trips, usually a combination of men and women, House and Senate, Democratic and Republican for ‘a balanced group of people who were interested in learning and would all get along together so it would not be a political trip’. 

Holmberg does not have a wife and has long been described as a ‘single day of two’

Holmberg ‘established a really good rapport with Global Bridges, and they liked him, and they requested that he go to those meetings. They wanted him involved,’ Martinson said.

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. 

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’.

Holmberg does not have a wife and has long been described as a ‘single day of two’.