Longtime North Dakota lawmaker indicted on child pornography charges

October 30, 2023

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (KFGO) – Ray Holmberg, who was North Dakota’s – and one of the country’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. Court records show Holmberg’s offenses took place between June of 2011 and November 2016.