Former US Republican Senator for North Dakota Ray Holmberg (79) is facing charges that he paid for sex with a person under the age of eighteen several times in the past in the Czech Republic. It is not clear if it was a girl or a boy. In addition, he had to pay for trips to Prague and other European cities with taxpayers’ money. The politician claims he is innocent.
Holmberg was in the Senate for 45 long years. According to the charges, between June 2011 and November 2016, he was supposed to travel to Prague several times, where he was supposed to pay for sex with a minor. The politician is also accused of possessing child pornography. According to the Daily Mail, in addition, he paid for strange trips with taxpayers’ money.
Travel records from the Association of School Boards show that Holmberg used public money for three trips to Prague in 2011, 2018 and 2019, and then to other European cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin. The trips were organized by Global Bridges, a German-based teacher exchange organization that also received funding from the state of North Dakota.
Holmberg resigned as chairman of the legislative committee last April. Before his resignation, local newspaper The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead wrote that Holmberg had communicated with a man convicted of distributing child pornography.
The senator was arrested by the police on Monday, October 30. He was charged and subsequently released. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial for the former senator will begin on December 5.
Tags: Ray Holmberg senator Czech Republic abuse children awaiting trial
