BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A retired Republican state senator from North Dakota has been charged with traveling to Europe with the intent of paying for sex with a minor and with receiving images depicting child sexual abuse, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday.
Longtime state Sen. Ray Holmberg, 79, was arrested Monday and released after pleading not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Fargo. His trial is set for Dec. 5.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Holmberg repeatedly traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic from June 2011 to November 2016 for the purpose of paying for sex with a person under 18 years old. The indictment, which also suggests Holmberg used aliases, says he received and attempted to receive images that depict child sexual abuse from November 2012 to March 2013.
Holmberg served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate until his resignation last year, after local media outlet The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead revealed he exchanged dozens of text messages with a person who was jailed on charges related to child sexual abuse images.
Holmberg’s attorney, Mark Friese, said in a text message that authorities investigated Holmberg “for 2 years or more and allege nothing recent. The conduct they allege is from more than a decade ago.”
**Holmberg was released with conditions, and the judge did not require posting of any bond, Friese said. ** A text message sent to Holmberg after his release Monday was not immediately returned, and his phone did not have voicemail so a message could not be left.
Holmberg chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets. He announced in March 2022 he wouldn’t seek reelection. He cited stress and “a weakened ability to concentrate on the matters at hand and effectively recall events” before ultimately resigning.
**Former North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner told The Associated Press he was saddened and disappointed by the indictment.
“Here’s a situation where a man was a public servant and did a lot of positive things for the state of North Dakota, and now, I don’t know what’s going to come of this thing, but this really neutralizes all the good,” said Wardner, a Republican who served in the Senate with Holmberg for nearly 25 years.**
If Holmberg is convicted, his decades serving the public “will be forgotten about, and only the negative things will be remembered,” Wardner said.
Current Senate Majority Leader David Hogue declined to comment on the indictment.
Holmberg was reimbursed roughly $126,000 for nearly 70 out-of-state trips from 2013 through mid-April 2022 to places that included four dozen U.S. cities, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and several European countries, according to an AP review of his travel records.
Law enforcement searched his Grand Forks home in November 2021, seizing video discs and additional items.
The indictment comes after Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier pleaded guilty last month in federal court to six counts of possessing images depicting child sexual abuse and one count of receiving and distributing such images. According to The Forum’s reporting, Morgan-Derosier was the person texting with Holmberg from jail.
Morgan-Derosier is scheduled to be sentenced in January. A spokesperson for the two federal public defenders who represented Morgan-Derosier did not immediately respond to a phone message regarding his case.
Death to america.
Why are they always republicans
Because the democrats eat them instead /s
I wish I didn’t have to put a stupid /s, but the things people believe now are wild
Get on the trolley bro, they harvest their Adrenochrome, then they eat them
Glad to see that the old cliché “communists eat children” is international and still well settled in the collective memory of western people.
British WW1 propaganda was that the Germans eat babies so it’s a regular thing to use
It’s one of the oldest anti-Semitic tropes, which is what the current far right conspiracy theories are also based on.
Before I clicked on this, I was like “He’s a Republican…” and he was!
I ALWAYS want to ask conservatives “Why are the child molesters, rapists and racists ALWAYS on your side, every single time??” But the problem is… the media they consume tells them a different story, so they can’t even engage with that as a fact.
Typical libtard, why can’t you think of the children? /s
Why are they always rich white men?
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I did not have sexual relations with that tree
Why is north Dakota even a state. This guy chaired the senate appropriations committee and his state has a lower population than the biggest city in my state.
Its not
“I wonder what party he is. … Oh. Of course.”
Also not a drag queen, who should have known…
I feel like I should be surprised but I’m not and that makes it even worse.
Why would you be surprised by something that happens regularly?
I can’t access the AP News article, but I doubt it ended with “Death to america.”
It does now
North Dakota
White
Republican
This should have just been the expectation.
I, for one, am fucking shocked.
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Former North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner told The Associated Press he was saddened and disappointed by the indictment. “Here’s a situation where a man was a public servant and did a lot of positive things for the state of North Dakota, and now, I don’t know what’s going to come of this thing, but this really neutralizes all the good”
Wall
Holmberg was reimbursed roughly $126,000 for nearly 70 out-of-state trips from 2013 through mid-April 2022 to places that included four dozen U.S. cities, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and several European countries, according to an AP review of his travel records.
State-funded pedophilia.
Dirty nonce shitcunt
This is the best summary I could come up with:
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A retired Republican state senator from North Dakota has been charged with traveling to Europe with the intent of paying for sex with a minor and with receiving images depicting child sexual abuse, according to a federal indictment unsealed Monday.
Longtime state Sen. Ray Holmberg, 79, was arrested Monday and released after pleading not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Fargo.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Holmberg repeatedly traveled to Prague in the Czech Republic from June 2011 to November 2016 for the purpose of paying for sex with a person under 18 years old.
Former North Dakota Senate Majority Leader Rich Wardner told The Associated Press he was saddened and disappointed by the indictment.
Holmberg was reimbursed roughly $126,000 for nearly 70 out-of-state trips from 2013 through mid-April 2022 to places that included four dozen U.S. cities, as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and several European countries, according to an AP review of his travel records.
Law enforcement searched his Grand Forks home in November 2021, seizing video discs and additional items.
The original article contains 547 words, the summary contains 181 words. Saved 67%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Bot cut out the parts of the other Dakota bastards defending him.
And his attorney saying it’s basically all old news…
Travelling for sex is illegal? RIP long distance relationships.
Lmao, apparently nobody on Lemmy can read. The traveling aspect is irrelevant if you have sex with a child.
with minor
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
A minor is a kid, don’t fuck with kids
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
Pedo confirmed.
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
If you think having sex with a minor, even when changing states, is OK, you have a problem.
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
Really didn’t write it as that… also you only say illegal, is that what stops you from doing it? Not a good sign.
The headline is one sentence. I can read it to you, but I can’t understand it for you…
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
traveling to fuck kids is a crime, one you apparently need to be investigated for given your attitude
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
this copy/pasted response to everyone who criticized you only further convinces me you should have your hard drive torn apart and your travel scrutinized
Lmao
Even minor aside, go look up sexual tourism. It is indeed illegal in many places. It can be exploitative.
Uh, as I understand it, sexual tourism is illegal because people travel somewhere to have sex with underage minors.
Prostitution is indeed illegal in many places, but I don’t know of a place where it’s legal, but illegal to travel there for sex with a consenting adult…
Seriously, go read up on it. Consent is more complex than just being an adult or not. There’s cross cultural power dynamics, human trafficking, impact on local economies, impact on public health and wellness, and so on. All of that on top of child exploitation.
Traveling somewhere and having sex isn’t a crime. Traveling to a particular place solely for the purposes of - ah, you know what, seriously, just go read up on this. It’s a big topic. I’m not gonna do it justice here. Start here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_tourism
Finally one person on Lemmy who can read… Apparently everyone else thinks I said pedophilia is fine lmao. My comment was only about the travel aspect.
Jesus fucking forget reading the article, fucking idiot didn’t even get beyond the first half of the headline lol.
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
I give you the benefit of doubt, maybe there is a tiny chance you are not aware about sex tourism is what this story is about.
Hence the question…
Bruh…
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
Sex with a minor is illegal regardless if you travel. That’s all I said…
