this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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The new details emerged as prosecutors outlined their reasons for the judge to impose a roughly three-year prison sentence and lifetime supervised release for former state senator Ray Holmberg, 81. He pleaded guilty last year to travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual activity. He faces up to 30 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and lifetime supervised release.

The new court documents say Holmberg used his positions as a high school guidance counselor and state lawmaker to exploit vulnerable youth and young men for decades, and cite numerous messages the prosecutor said show some of his countless arrangements to pay for sex with young men while traveling, often while on state business trips.

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[–] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 127 points 4 days ago (5 children)

The article doesn't say that he's a Republican because we all know right away that he's a Republican.

[–] PolyLlamaRous@lemmy.world 38 points 4 days ago

I came to the comments for this... I was like "huh... Odd... It doesn't say that they are a republican. They aren't a Democrat are they!? Surely if they a Democrat the is story would be everywhere! Can't be, but better to check and be sure." haha

[–] tal 18 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I just did a site search on apnews.com for "ex state senator". They do typically seem to say, so I don't think that they avoid listing party affiliation as some kind of practice for retired state senators:

https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-senator-prison-kelsey-0a4a226939ba039852129184e820b9e9

Former Tennessee state senator reports to federal prison for campaign finance scheme conviction

The Republican was ordered to arrive at the prison’s minimum security satellite camp Monday for a 21-month sentence.

https://apnews.com/article/massachusetts-government-and-politics-ca3093b18dafb986a0d39ac19b1db336

A former Massachusetts state senator and Republican candidate for Congress has been charged after allegedly stealing a gun from an elderly constituent and misleading investigators about what happened, Attorney General Maura Healey said Friday.

https://apnews.com/article/sam-mccann-illinois-senator-sentencing-fraud-f98497339277e0a091d85db2db7f3569

FILE - Republican Illinois State Sen. Sam McCann speaks at the State Capitol on March 5, 2018, in Springfield, Ill. McCann, a former state senator and 2018 candidate for governor, was sentenced Wednesday, July 10, 2024 to 3 1/2 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $684,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion in misusing campaign funds. (Erin Brown/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)

https://apnews.com/article/andy-sanborn-covid19-fraud-d3854b8f9225bf0372c4ec9d41ec0149

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former New Hampshire state senator accused last year of fraudulently obtaining federal COVID-19 loans and spending the money on luxury cars was charged this week with stealing separate state pandemic relief funds.

Republican Andy Sanborn, of Bedford, was charged with theft by deception, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, the attorney general’s office said Wednesday.

https://apnews.com/general-news-45df9559ab7b5bcab968c8391c33951f

CHICAGO (AP) — A former Illinois state senator pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges of lying on personal income tax reports and failing to file tax returns for her lobbying and consulting firm.

Collins, a Chicago Democrat who left the legislature in 2013, was one of several ex-lawmakers hired by Commonwealth Edison after retiring from public office.

https://apnews.com/article/dd1f440c59754588b2cfaeb633ca0530

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An ex-California state senator pleaded guilty Wednesday to a racketeering charge in an organized crime and public corruption case centered in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

The FBI also alleged that Yee, a San Francisco Democrat who was running for secretary of state at the time, conspired to import weapons and ammunition into the U.S.

EDIT: Oh, as someone else pointed out, they indicated it in OP's article too, just in the caption. At least one of my above articles mentioned it in the caption too. So probably just a normal article.

[–] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's just under the picture in the caption, but yeah... we knew

[–] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

I missed that. I looked but didn't see it. Thanks.

[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It's because he's from North Dakota, right? RIGHT???

(No, it's because he fucks kids.)

[–] thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 days ago

Just another case of admission by omission.

[–] liverbe@lemmy.world 62 points 4 days ago (2 children)

A republican? I'm shocked! 😐

[–] MuskyMelon@lemmy.world 28 points 4 days ago

The Family Values Party ladies and gents, as in if you have a family, you can assign a value to each of them for SA.

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 24 points 4 days ago

Confirmation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Holmberg

Raymon Everett Holmberg (born December 10, 1944) is a former educator, school counselor, Republican North Dakota state senator, convicted felon, and sex offender.

Once tied for the longest-serving state legislator in the United States, Holmberg resigned from the senate in 2022 (after 45.5 years) upon investigation into his alleged child sex tourism and receipt of child pornography. In 2024, he pled guilty to charges of the former.

[–] TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org 56 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Republicans: "They just want to dress up as the opposite gender and use the bathrooms to sexually abuse and exploit people!"

Also Republicans:

[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 29 points 4 days ago (1 children)

They sure spend a lot of time thinking about children.

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Genitals

Obsession

Party

[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 37 points 4 days ago (1 children)

As always, not a drag queen.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 1 points 4 days ago

How do you know for sure that the minors aren't drag queens?

[–] formergijoe@lemmy.world 24 points 4 days ago (1 children)

"Holmberg also manipulated a Canadian teenager, who later took his own life, into sending him sexually explicit images, and used an alias to email certain colleagues and friends about 'his sexual interest in adolescent-age boys, among other things,' acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer Klemetsrud Puhl wrote."

30 years is not enough.

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Maybe there should be a set of questions for politicians visiting Canada....are you now or in the next 5 years planning on visiting Canada for the purpose of...

[–] kibiz0r@midwest.social 22 points 4 days ago (1 children)

GOP: His only real crime was spending money in Europe.

[–] formergijoe@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

👊🇺🇸🔥

[–] phoenixarise@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago

Those drag queens at it again. /s

[–] nulluser@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Something tells me that if one were to look back through his public statements to the media there would be at least one rant about Democrats harboring pedophiles, or something.

[–] tal 3 points 4 days ago

I don't have an Instagram account and have no intention of making one, but he does have a post that I can see a low-resolution image of on Instagram that he and some other Republicans in North Dakota signed objecting to anti-LGBT language in the party platform, so I'd say the opposite, at least on the sexual orientation front.

https://www.instagram.com/holmbergforsenate/p/CEFxUw8pdd0/?hl=en

Don't see anything doing date searches with Google either, though I'd guess that state senators probably aren't normally all that high-profile.

[–] phoenixarise@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago

Typical conservative pervert.

[–] tal 17 points 4 days ago

supervised release.

That supervised release doesn't seem to be working out too well so far:

https://northdakotamonitor.com/briefs/former-state-senator-convicted-of-child-sex-crime-again-accused-of-violating-pretrial-release/

Holmberg was released from custody on Oct. 30, 2023, with certain stipulations — including location monitoring, internet restrictions, no drugs or alcohol and no contact with victims or witnesses. The terms were updated this spring to bar Holmberg from using electronic devices without permission, according to court records.

“Since the date of the last status report filed on August 2, 2023, the defendant has continued to access the internet for reasons not approved by pretrial services,” a pretrial services officer says in the document.

The document notes that Holmberg accessed social media sites like Facebook and Twitter seven times between Aug. 13 and Aug. 17, and once on Sept. 22, without authorization.

On Aug. 7, Holmberg also “frequented” a home in Fargo in violation of his location monitoring requirements.

“The defendant has been given verbal reprimands and has been reminded of his conditions of release on numerous occasions,” the document says.

Court documents indicate Holmberg has violated the terms of his release several other times this year. An August court filing describes additional instances when he used the internet for unauthorized purposes, as well as occasions when he frequented an adult novelty store. In May, he tested positive for alcohol, which is not allowed under the release conditions.

[–] wanderwisley@lemm.ee 7 points 4 days ago

Once again, a reminder, not a Democrat, not a transgender, not a drag queen not an immigrant.

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

Sentenced to a cabinet position?

[–] shittydwarf@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 4 days ago

As always, not mentioned in the title but Republican

[–] jaybone@lemmy.world 7 points 4 days ago

So wait, is it 3 years or 30 years?

[–] radiohead37@lemmynsfw.com 6 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Legal question: why does the US have jurisdiction over activities of their citizens on foreign soil?

[–] Cheradenine@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 days ago

They only do in certain cases, it's called Extraterritorial Jurisdiction. Note that the U.S. is not the only country that recognizes Extraterritorial Jurisdiction.

Wikipedia entry here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterritorial_jurisdiction

Interesting law blog post (dealing mostly with RICO issues, organized crime) here https://fmamlaw.com/when-can-the-u-s-government-prosecute-someone-for-acts-abroad/

[–] hamFoilHat@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

They kinda don't, that's why the law is worded a little weird. It's illegal to travel with intent to do that. When traveling you do all the planning at the place of origin and the travel starts there. So the text messages they mentioned arranging the meetings were themselves illegal, and he was in the US when he sent them.

[–] JustTheWind@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

You see, there's the problem. Traveling to Europe to do these kinds of things is millionaire behavior. Shyiiit, dirty commoners could do that. Ya really gotta climb up there into the billionaire behavior department before you can start doing stuff like this and expecting to get away with it. Be a proper world-class scum bag, at least rent your own private island first. Sheesh. This is like psychopathic villainy 101 here. Unbelievable.