(The Center Square) – Former North Dakota lawmaker Ray Holmberg pleaded guilty in federal court to charges related to traveling out of the country for child sex, according to Attorney General Drew Wrigley.
The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Holmberg last on charges of child sex tourism and child pornography, according to a DOJ news release.
The federal indictment said Holmberg traveled to “Prague, Czech Republic, for the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct” with someone under 18, according to previous reporting by The Center Square. The travel occurred between June 24, 2011, and Nov. 1, 2016, according to the indictment.
Holmberg also received child pornography between the dates of Nov. 24, 2012, and March 4, 2013, the indictment said.
Wrigley called the guilty plea an “important milestone in North Dakota’s battle against child sex trafficking.”
“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,” the attorney general said in a statement. “Our state investigative resources will continue to work on his and associated matters alongside our federal law enforcement partners. We proceed in alignment with the prosecutorial efforts of my former colleagues in our esteemed United States Attorney’s office and the United States Department of Justice.”
Holmberg, a Republican from Grand Forks, served in the North Dakota Senate from 1977 to 2022, according to the Legislature’s website. He resigned last year amid questions about texts with a child pornographer.
A former school counselor, Holmberg has two children and five grandchildren, according to his former legislative page. He once served as the chairman of the North Dakota Senate Appropriations Committee.