DISTURBING

Ex-North Dakota Lawmaker Charged With Flying to Prague to Rape Minor

Ray Holmberg was indicted two years after law enforcement searched his home in Grand Forks, seizing video discs and other items.

North Dakota’s longest-serving state senator, who stepped down last year after The Forum reported that he had text conversations with a man jailed for child pornography, has been indicted on federal charges of traveling to Prague to rape a minor and receive images of child sexual abuse. He was arrested Monday morning. Ray Holmberg’s charges were filed on Oct. 26 and obtained by KFGO on Monday, two years after law enforcement searched his home in Grand Forks to seize video discs and other items. The Associated Press reported that the former state senator was reimbursed about $126,000 for nearly 70 trips out of the state from 2013 to 2022, including to four dozen U.S. cities, China, Canada, Puerto Rico, and multiple European countries. According to HuffPost, Holmberg announced in March 2022 that he wouldn’t fight for reelection and later resigned, mentioning stress and “a weakened ability to concentrate on the matters at hand and effectively recall events.”