Former American Senator Admits to Traveling to Prague for Sex with Minors

Former North Dakota lawmaker Ray Holmberg pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to a charge that he traveled to Europe with the intent to pay for sex with a minor.

Ray Holmberg, 80, admitted in court that he had paid young male masseuses, with some of whom he had sexual contact, during multiple visits to Prague, though he said he did not know for certain how old they were.

Holmberg was indicted in October 2023 for travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual activity and receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material. The Republican served more than 45 years in the North Dakota Senate before resigning in 2022.

Under a plea agreement he signed in June, Holmberg agreed to plead guilty to the former charge, and prosecutors would move to dismiss the latter and recommend a sentence at the low end of the guideline range.

Judge Daniel Hovland accepted his plea and allowed Holmberg to remain released, with restrictions, until a later sentencing hearing. Wearing a dark suit, the disgraced former lawmaker declined to comment after the hearing.

The travel charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.

Holmberg made 14 trips to Prague from 2011 to 2021 and frequented a villa that one travel companion described as a brothel that had teenage male masseuses. Another travel companion told investigators that he paid for the nights at the villa because Holmberg did not want his name on the register, Puhl said.

Holmberg, a retired high school counselor, said, “It was just something — I don’t want to say fell into … that I did,” and “it was after retirement before any of this activity occurred.” He retired in 2002. He said he had been to Prague a few times before 2011, liking opera and castles. He said he generally traveled by himself.

Holmberg said he became aware of the villa after possibly seeing it online, but said he wasn’t sure how old the masseuses were or how many encounters he had with them. Sexual contact occurred with “some of them,” he said. He noted that the Czech Republic has a younger age of consent than the U.S. does and said he didn’t recall traveling to other countries for the same purpose.

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