A retired Republican state senator from North Dakota charged with traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor used taxpayer funds to pay for at least three trips to that city and to other destinations in Europe.
State Sen. Ray Holmberg, 79, was arrested Monday and released after pleading not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Fargo. His trial is set for December 5.
Prosecutors say Holmberg, who served for 45 years in the chamber, repeatedly traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic from June 2011 to November 2016 for the purpose of paying for sex with a person under 18 years old.
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.
Holmberg traveled with teachers twice and also on independent trips where he was invited to participate, such as for a forum, annual meeting or symposium, said Jon Martinson
The indictment alleges Holmberg traveled to Prague ‘from on or about June 24, 2011, to on or about November 1, 2016… for the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct.’
One of the travel records for the funded trips lists a departure date of June 24, 2011, to Prague and other cities.
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 ‘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.
His brother, former Association Executive Director Jon Martinson, was the project director and participated in the selection of teachers for the trips.
Photos on Holmberg’s Facebook page show him traveling throughout Europe over the last 10 years, including in Slovakia and France.
Holmberg traveled with teachers twice and also on independent trips where he was invited to participate, such as for a forum, annual meeting or symposium, said Jon Martinson.
State Sen. Ray Holmberg, 79, was arrested Monday and released after pleading not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Fargo
He said he didn’t know how many trips Holmberg took through the program.
The trips are beneficial for legislators because of the knowledge they gain on topics such as energy and international relations, Jon Martinson said.
Bob and Jon Martinson said they didn’t know of what Holmberg is accused of doing in Prague.
‘My lawyer tells me don’t talk to anyone because I’ve got that criminal thing, so I’m following my attorney’s advice,’ Holmberg told reporters Wednesday.
Bob Martinson called the allegations raised by the indictment ‘terribly sad.’ Holmberg has been a friend for over 40 years, he said.
The indictment, which also suggests Holmberg used aliases, says he received and attempted to receive images that depict child sexual abuse from November 2012 to March 2013. In order to solicit images, Holmberg used the alias Sean Evans, reports The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.
Holmberg served for nearly five decades until his resignation last year, after The Forum revealed he exchanged dozens of text messages with a person who was jailed on charges related to child sexual abuse images.
Holmberg is not married. A 1996 profile on him from The Bismarck Tribune calls him a ‘single parent of two.’
Prosecutors said in a statement that Holmberg, who served for 45 years in the chamber, repeatedly traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic from June 2011 to November 2016 for the purpose of paying for sex with a person under 18 years old
Travel records from the North Dakota School Boards Association show that former state senator Ray 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
He chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets.
Holmberg announced in March 2022 he wouldn´t seek reelection. He cited stress and ‘a weakened ability to concentrate on the matters at hand and effectively recall events’ before ultimately resigning.
Law enforcement searched his Grand Forks home in November 2021, seizing video discs and additional items.
The indictment comes after Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty last month in federal court to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images.
According to The Forum’s reporting, Morgan-Derosier was the person texting with Holmberg from jail.
State Rep. Bob Martinson said he picked the legislators who went on the trips, usually a combination of men and women
The indictment comes after Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty last month in federal court to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images
Morgan-Derosier is scheduled to be sentenced in January. A spokesperson for the two federal public defenders who represented Morgan-Derosier did not immediately respond to a phone message regarding his case.
He took dozens of state-funded trips throughout the U.S. and abroad in the last decade, according to legislative travel records.
Holmberg resigned last year after The Forum reported on his dozens of text messages exchanged with a man in jail at the time on charges related to images of child sexual abuse.
A state panel on Thursday voted unanimously to suspend Holmberg´s lifetime teaching license, intending to revoke it immediately if he pleads guilty to or is convicted of any charge based on the case’s underlying facts, according to the motion in meeting minutes.
Holmberg, who is retired, had a career with Grand Forks Public Schools from 1967 to 2002, including years as a teacher, child find coordinator and counselor.