Raymon Everett Holmberg (born December 10,1944) is a convicted child sex offender and American politician (tied for the longest-serving state legislator in the United States). He previously worked as an educator,school counselor,and Republican North Dakota state senator.
Holmberg resigned from the senate in 2022 (after 45.5 years) upon investigation into his alleged child sex tourism and receipt of child pornography. In 2024,he pled guilty to charges of the former;in 2025 he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
After the 2021 retirement of Fred Risser of the Wisconsin Senate,Holmberg was tied with Nikki G. Setzler of the South Carolina Senate for longest-serving state legislator in the United States.[1] In 2021,Holmberg was the Grand Forks Herald's person of the year. In 2022,he was chairman of the Senate's Appropriations,Rules,and Legislative Management committees while also serving on the interim Budget Section;The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead called Holmberg "one of the most powerful and popular lawmakers in the legislature".[12] From 2013 through mid-2022,Holmberg spent more state money on travel than any other legislator (US$125,810).[13]
In June 2021,Holmberg raised about $20,000(equivalent to about $23,000 in 2024) for his 2022 reelection campaign.[14] In March 2022,Holmberg announced he would not seek reelection that year due to "health issues including weakened cognitive abilities". After an investigation was published about his communications with an inmate accused of child pornography crimes,Holmberg resigned from the Senate[15] six months early,on June 1,2022. He was replaced by Jonathan Sickler.[16] Despite no longer working in the North Dakota State Capitol,as of November2023[update],Holmberg was still active in politics:offering advice and meeting with legislators to share access to his institutional knowledge,soliciting support for Republican candidates,and corresponding with politicos.[14]
In 2020, Caton Todd (formerly of North Dakota) alleged he was sexually assaulted by Holmberg in 2010, after having been invited to the senator's Miami-area condominium. Holmberg's attorney later confirmed the two men spent time together and that Holmberg owned the condo.[15]
Arrested in March 2021, Nicholas James Morgan-DeRosier (from East Grand Forks, Minnesota, born 1988or1989)[23] was indicted ten months later on charges of "receiving and distributing child porn, transporting child porn, transporting minors with intent for those children to engage in sexual activity, and traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity".[24] Court documents listed Morgan-DeRosier having over 6500 images and videos of child sexual abuse material.[12]
On August 23, 2021, while Morgan-DeRosier was incarcerated in the Grand Forks County, North Dakota jail on the possession charges, he texted Holmberg, and the two exchanged 65 messages between 3:23 and 5:24p.m., in part discussing Holmberg's interest in meeting Morgan-DeRosier's 19-or-20-year-old boyfriend "to give him a massage". The next day, Holmberg texted Morgan-DeRosier, and seven messages were passed back and forth between 6:14 and 6:31p.m. Morgan-DeRosier was bailed out at 9:14p.m. on August 24. These text exchanges came to light as federal prosecutor Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl's evidence at Morgan-DeRosier's detention hearing. When The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead uncovered this connection and asked Holmberg about them, the legislator said the messages were about patio construction, claimed ignorance of the massage-related messages, and both claimed to have read about Morgan-DeRosier's charges while also not knowing about them. He later told The Forum, of his texts with Morgan-DeRosier, "They're just gone."[12] Morgan-DeRosier pled guilty to "seven criminal charges related to possessing and distributing child pornography" in September 2023. On May 30, 2024, Judge Peter D. Welte imposed a sentence of 40 years imprisonment, victim restitution of $39,000, and mandatory registration as a sex offender.[25]
At 9:30a.m. on November 17, 2021, Holmberg's Grand Forks condominium was searched by the federal Department of Homeland Security and the Grand Forks Police Department. Holmberg was interviewed by agents, and evidentiary material was seized from his home, including CD-Rs, DVD-Rs,[26] and Holmberg's state-issued iPad and laptop computer.[27] Evidence led to an email account belonging to Holmberg, which he used to plan his trips, saying "The boys rent at around $60 (sex is extra)" and "No one is ever too young ...remember Prague."[28]
Prosecutors ultimately determined that, as part of state-funded trips—in cooperation with Atlantik-Brücke to "understand and integrate the various facets of international politics, business, academia and culture"[29]—Holmberg took at least three individual trips to Prague, Czech Republic (June 24, 2011; September 29, 2018; and late June 2019) to illegally have sex with minors. With his senatorial leadership position, Holmberg approved state reimbursement of $126,000 of his own personal travel expenses to Prague.[28]
Federal indictment and trial
A grand jury in the US District Court for North Dakota returned an indictment against Holmberg on October 26, 2023 (United States of America v. Raymon Everett Holmberg). Holmberg was also indicted for receiving or attempting to receive child pornography (between November 24, 2012, and March 4, 2013); Jennifer Puhl testified that Holmberg used the aliases Sean Evan and Sean Evans "to convince a child to send him sexually explicit images".[13]
Arrested and arraigned on October 30, Holmberg pled not-guilty at the US District Court in Fargo, North Dakota.[30] Judge Alice Senechalreleased Holmberg under the conditions: forfeiture of his passport; no contact with minors, victims, and witnesses; no access to the internet, no travel outside Greater Grand Forks[13] or Fargo; and no possession of firearms.[31] Senechal set a trial date of December 5, 2023,[13] to be adjudicated by Judge Daniel L. Hovland. [31] On November 14, upon request of Holmberg's defense team, and with no objection from the federal prosecutor, Hovland postponed the Fargo trial to April 29, which was expected to last five days;[32] in March 2024, it was delayed again until September 9.[33]
On August 8, pursuant to a plea agreement (United States of America v. Raymon Everett Holmberg), Holmberg pled guilty to child sex tourism charges stemming from his travel to the Czech Republic and waived his right to appeal; in exchange, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to drop charges of receiving child pornography and attempts there to, and would "seek a sentence on the low end of sentencing guidelines." The maximum sentence was 30 years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines, and he will be required to register as a sex offender. Holmberg's allocution additionally included admissions of sex quid pro quo, receipt and consumption of child pornography. Due to Holmberg's health problems, Judge Hovland released him from custody with a GPS tracker, pending sentencing, despite previous violations of his terms of release.[34][28] There is no required minimum sentencing.[35]
Federal sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of 37–46 months, and both the defense and prosecution agreed to 37 months ("about three years") due to Holmberg's age and concerns about his health. On March 26, 2025, Judge Hovland instead sentenced Holmberg to 10 years (120 months). Although this was four times what both the prosecution and defense had sought, Hovland said upward departure from sentencing guidelines was warranted because he believed Holmberg was still a "threat to underage boys". Hovland also did not believe the recommended sentence would deter others; in his view, a three-year sentence was too lenient for "very vile, very sickening behavior". Hovland did not believe Holmberg's claims that he had never had sex with minors, saying he could "read between the lines".[41][40] Acting U. S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl said that she would have asked for a longer sentence if her office had been able to identify more victims in Prague. Holmberg was returned to the Elk River jail pending his assignment by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.[40] On June 5, 2025, he was transferred to Federal Medical Center, Rochester.[42]
The ND Senate and ND House are committed to providing additional resources to law enforcement to help combat increases in criminal sexual assaults and human trafficking…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.
Hovland required Holmberg to serve a further ten years of supervised release after Holmberg completes his prison sentence.[41] He will also be required to register as a sex offender and complete a sex offender treatment program. He will be prohibited from visiting where children gather (e.g. playgrounds and schools), and will have to get permission from his probation officer before having any contact with minors at all.[40]
↑ Jacobs, Mike, ed. (July 2, 1986). "Divorces". Grand Forks Herald. Vol.108, no.7. p.2B. ISSN0745-9661. OCLC1751382. Archived from the original on March 26, 2025. Retrieved March 26, 2025. Raymon E. Holmberg from Kerry L. Holmberg. She will resume her maiden name of Hackett.
Media related to Ray Holmberg at Wikimedia Commons
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