Raymon (Ray) Everett Holmberg, Traveling for Commercial Sex with Minors, North Dakota 2024

Former North Dakota state senator Raymon (Ray) Everett Holmberg, 81, of Grand Forks, North Dakota, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for traveling to Prague in the Czech Republic to engage in commercial sex with children.

Holmberg, who served as a state legislator for 45 years, made approximately 14 trips to Prague between 2011 and 2021. During these trips, he paid for sex acts with boys at a brothel that catered to men looking to engage in commercial sex with adolescent boys.

According to court documents, Holmberg used the alias "Sean Evans" during some of his trips. Witnesses told law enforcement that Holmberg did not want his name on the brothel’s registry because he was a North Dakota state legislator.

In addition to his trips to Prague, Holmberg also used the alias "Sean Evans" to tell friends about his travels and encourage them to visit the city. He shared an image of an adolescent boy that he called "his twink" and boasted about having engaged in sexual activity with boys as young as 12- and 15-years old.

Holmberg also established an online relationship with a 16-year-old Canadian boy, posing as a boy of a similar age in order to manipulate the Canadian teen into taking images of himself engaging in sexually explicit conduct and sending them to Holmberg.

On August 8, 2024, Holmberg pleaded guilty to traveling in foreign commerce for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct. His sentence was handed down on the same day.

Matt Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl for the District of North Dakota made the announcement. Homeland Security Investigations, Grand Forks, and the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations investigated the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and law enforcement partners in the Czech Republic and Slovakia provided substantial assistance.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Holmberg’s case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of holding individuals accountable for their actions, particularly when it comes to the exploitation of vulnerable children.