BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — Former North Dakota senator Ray Holmberg, who was convicted of child sex crimes after serving as a state lawmaker for nearly 50 years, will be sentenced on Wednesday, March 26. The prosecution in the case says he had a history of exploiting children in various countries. After Holmberg pled guilty in August to traveling abroad to have sex with adolescent boys, a sentencing memorandum was released yesterday in which the prosecution urges that Holmberg be sentenced to 37 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. The memorandum says Holmberg traveled across the world to exploit vulnerable boys more than a dozen times, and used his positions of power as a high school guidance counselor and state legislator to exploit adolescent boys and men. According to the prosecution, Holmberg took at least 14 trips to Prague, Czech Republic between 2011 and 2021, and frequented a brothel where he asked others to bring him adolescent boys to have sex with. The North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigations searched his devices and found emails showing that Holmberg, using the alias "Sean Evan," found a homosexual brothel called Villa Mansland. He sent emails to a Cooperating Witness in the case, asking him to join him [Holmberg] on a trip to Prague. They found messages sent by Holmberg such as, "I do wanna go... wouldn't it be fun. The boys rent at around $60... (sex is extra)." The prosecution said he also sent the witness an email showing photos of the boys who would be at the villa that month. The witness admitted to traveling to Prague with Holmberg, and said the former senator showed him a park where he would pick up underage prostitutes. Renewable energy advocacy group condemns Greenpeace decision Another witness, who was a student at the University of North Dakota, also said he went with Holmberg on one of his trips. He said Holmberg showed him that park, where the witness saw male prostitutes between the ages of 12 and 16. Witnesses also mentioned that Holmberg referenced the age of consent in Prague being 16. The memorandum says the boys Holmberg exploited in Prague were some of the most vulnerable, because they were homeless, and were recruited by the owner to work at the Villa at a young age. It also revealed messages he sent to a select group of friends in which he seemed to be bragging about his sexual exploitation. One of the messages was, "no one is ever to [sic] young... remember Prague." Later, investigators identified two Slovakian men who knew Holmberg, one of whom worked at the Villa. One of the men said he received sexually explicit images of adolescent boys from Holmberg on Viber, an app for messaging and video chatting. Holmberg messaged the man that he wanted to travel to Slovakia, but asked the man to provide him "a boy to have sex with when I am there." The memorandum also says Holmberg catphished a 16-year-old Canadian boy to send him sexually explicit images, using a chat forum he found for teenagers who had just undergone circumcision surgery. The boy took his own life in 2021. Before he began traveling to Prague, Holmberg exploited adolescents as young as 18 and 19 years old in the United States. Some of them were kids he began grooming at Grand Forks Central High School, and others whom he used his power to exploit at UND. Man in Bismarck arrested for sex crimes These included a 16-year-old high school student struggling at home, and a person who worked at a clothing store, who Holmberg then hired to allegedly perform sexual acts. Examination of his devices showed he arranged to engage in commercial sex in Bismarck and Fargo, as well as Boston, Chicago, Phoenix, Washington D.C., and London, among other cities. He often did this while traveling for business. The prosecution says this showed what his true purpose was for traveling to Prague. "This ongoing activity — in city after city, year after year — not only demonstrates Holmberg’s proclivity for young sex workers, but it also reflects his true purpose in traveling to Prague. That is, he did not repeatedly travel to Prague to engage in commercial sex with young men as he was already engaging in this very activity on hundreds of occasions in dozens of cities throughout the United States. He traveled to Prague because he had a sexual interest that couldnot be legally met in the United States: underage boys." During a plea hearing, Holmberg said he didn't do anything illegal in Prague, mentioning the age of consent there. Lori Cohen, an attorney who leads an organization known as PACT, or Protect All Children from Trafficking, said under U.S. law, it’s a crime to purchase sex from a child anywhere in the world. The prosecution is recommending Holmberg be sentenced to 37 months in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release. "Although Holmberg is presently 81 years of age, his more recent travels to Slovakia and Czech Republic to engage in commercial sex with boys reflect that he still poses a risk of danger, and as such, a sentence of time-served is not appropriate," the memorandum says. Holmberg will be sentenced March 26 in Fargo. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Today's Top Stories SIGN UP NOW ...read more read less