A former North Dakota state senator made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota yesterday to face charges for traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor and receipt and attempted receipt of child pornography.
According to court documents, from June 2011 through November 2016, 79-year-old Republican Raymon Holmberg of Grand Forks, is alleged to have repeatedly traveled from North Dakota to Prague, Czech Republic, for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts with a person under the age of 18 years. Holmberg is also charged with receiving material depicting a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct.
Holmberg was the longest serving state senator in North Dakota, but resigned in 2022 after an investigation uncovered that he had exchanged text messages with a person jailed for having child sexual abuse images.
If convicted, Holmberg faces a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.
