Fargo’s Fox affiliate reports:
Raymond E. Holmberg, who was North Dakota’s, and one of the nation’s longest-serving state senators until he resigned last spring, has been indicted on federal child pornography charges.
The charges, filed October 26 and unsealed Monday, come two years after police and federal agents raided the 79-year-old’s home in Grand Forks after an investigation showed Holmberg had traded scores of text messages with another man who was jailed on child pornography charges.
A federal grand jury charged Holmberg with two counts. The indictment against him claims Holmberg traveled to the Czech Republic for the purpose of engaging in sex with a minor, and that he knowingly received child pornography.
From my June 2022 report:
Holmberg, who rose to become one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers in a career that spanned 46 years, said he would resign effective June 1. His term was scheduled to end on Nov. 30 and he already had announced in March that it would be his last. Holmberg exchanged 72 text messages in August with Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier.
Prosecutors allege Morgan-Derosier possessed several thousand images and videos depicting sexually abused children. He also is accused of taking two children under the age of 10 from Minnesota to his Grand Forks home, with the intent of sexually abusing them.
Holmberg was one of North Dakota’s three (legal) electors for Trump in the 2020 election.
BREAKING: Former state senator Ray Holmberg indicted on child pornography chargeshttps://t.co/ElwEvFQ6p4
— North Dakota Dem-NPL (@nddemnpl) October 30, 2023