Former North Dakota State Senator Raymon “Ray” Everett Holmberg, a Republican, was sentenced on Wednesday to 10 years in prison after repeatedly traveling to Europe and paying to “sexually exploit children.”
In a Wednesday press release, the U.S. Department for Justice announced that court documents showed the 81-year-old lawmaker traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic roughly 14 times between 2011 and 2021. During the former lawmaker’s trips, Holmberg “paid for sex acts with boys” while staying at a brothel that “catered to men looking to engage in commercial sex with adolescent boys.”
The Justice Department explained that Holmberg used the name “Sean Evans” as an alias since he did not want his name to be included on the brothel’s registry due to his position as a North Dakota state senator. Additionally, witnesses told law enforcement officials that the 81-year-old visited a public park in Prague to “procure sex from underage boys.”
“Holmberg also used the ‘Evans’ alias to tell friends about his trips and encourage them to travel to Prague. In these communications, Holmberg shared an image of an adolescent boy that he called ‘his twink,’ and said that ‘no one is ever to [sic] young . . . remember Prague,'” the Justice Department stated. “He emailed a different friend a link to a brothel in Prague and suggested that they go that summer, writing: ‘The boys rent at around $60 . . . (sex is extra).'”
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Holmberg’s email added, “It will be decadent but oh so much fun bro. What happens in Prague—Stays in Prague.”
In addition to the email, the Justice Department said the former Republican lawmaker “boasted” that he had “engaged in sexual activity” with 12-year-old and 15-year-old boys during his trips to Europe.
In Wednesday’s press release, the Justice Department said Holmberg’s history of sexually exploiting minors was “not limited” to his overseas trips. Law enforcement officials said the former lawmaker also had an online relationship with a 16-year-old Canadian boy and pretended to be close in age to the boy “to manipulate the Canadian teen into taking images of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct and sending them to Holmberg.”
According to The Post Millennial, the 81-year-old resigned from his position in 2022 and was later indicted on federal charges in October of 2023. The outlet noted that Holmberg previously served as the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the North Dakota State Senate and was the head of Legislative Management.
In a statement obtained by KFGO following Holmberg’s sentencing, North Dakota lawmakers said, “Ray Holmberg’s evil crimes require reflection and careful review of policy to determine how best to combat crimes against children. In the coming months, we intend to do that with sober judgment and a firm resolve.”
