School boards group backs out of teacher exchange program amid ex-North Dakota lawmaker’s charges

JUNE 6, 2024:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota school boards organization has returned over $140,000 to the state and ended its role in a teacher exchange program months after an indictment was unsealed against a former state lawmaker, who traveled to Europe on the state funds and later was accused of traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor.

The North Dakota School Boards Association’s director said the group had been discussing ending its involvement with the Germany-based Global Bridges program before former Republican state senator Ray Holmberg’s indictment, and though his case was not the driver, “everything that transpired perhaps just hastened that discussion.”

“We just were working to align our association’s activities with our mission, and the timing was just what it was,” Executive Director Alexis Baxley told The Associated Press.

The state Ethics Commission announced the funds’ return on Tuesday (June 4, 2024). In January, the association’s board of directors voted to end its role as the fiscal agent for the program and to return the remaining $142,000 to the state Department of Public Instruction, according to a letter the department provided to the AP.

In a statement, the ethics panel said the association returned the money on its own without prompting by the department, the commission or anyone else. The Legislature approved money for the program from 2007 to 2017 in the department’s budget, which flowed as “pass-through grants” to the association, which was a “reimbursement and bookkeeping entity” for the funds, the ethics panel said.

The association reached an informal resolution as to a complaint against it about the program, the ethics panel said. Under that resolution, the association agreed to end any future involvement with the Global Bridges program. The complaint is closed. State law makes ethics complaints confidential.

It’s unclear whether Holmberg’s alleged misconduct occurred during a Global Bridges trip. Travel records from the association show he took trips in 2011, 2018 and 2019 to Prague, a city named in the indictment, and other cities in Europe. The date of June 24, 2011, is listed in the indictment and on a receipt for Holmberg for a departure to Prague and other cities.

Former Association Executive Director Jon Martinson said Holmberg “cast a huge shadow” over the state’s relationship through the association with Global Bridges.

“The trips would continue and the (association) wouldn’t have given back the money and none of this attention would have occurred had Ray Holmberg not done what he is alleged to have done in Prague,” said Martinson, who added he is still the Global Bridges program director. The association did not consult with him about deciding to return the money, he said.

Nine people, including seven lawmakers, went on North Dakota’s last Global Bridges trip, in July 2023 to Berlin and surrounding cities such as Potsdam, Martinson said. He touted the value of the program for bringing together teachers and legislators with top experts in education, business and politics.

Democratic state Sen. Tim Mathern, who served over 35 years with Holmberg, said he thinks the program’s situation “just got so complicated in terms of so many people looking into the matter.”

“It’s really not just Sen. Holmberg. There might be other issues that come up as people inquire even further, and they would just as soon, I would think, want to get out of that sort of scrutiny and difficulty,” said Mathern, who lauded the Ethics Commission for the process “at least to look at some of these things closer.”

Holmberg, 80, served in the North Dakota Senate from 1976 to 2022. In early 2022, he announced his intent not to seek reelection but weeks later he resigned after The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reported he had exchanged dozens of text messages with a man in jail for child sexual abuse images.

Holmberg was one of the most powerful members of the Legislature, chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee for many years. He also chaired the Legislative Management, which handles the Legislature’s business between biennial sessions. The latter role allowed him to approve his own travel.

Records obtained by the AP show that Holmberg took dozens of trips throughout the U.S. and to other countries since 1999. Destinations included cities in more than 30 states as well as Canada, Puerto Rico and Norway.

Holmberg also is charged with receipt and attempted receipt of child sexual abuse material. His trial is scheduled for September in Fargo.

NOVEMBER 14, 2023:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge has rescheduled the trial for a former North Dakota lawmaker accused of traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor.

Former Republican state senator Ray Holmberg, 79, of Grand Forks, was indicted last month and set for trial on Dec. 5, 2023. His attorney on Monday (Nov. 13, 2023) asked to hold off for time to review documents and prepare Holmberg’s defense. Federal prosecutors did not object, according to his motion.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland rescheduled Holmberg’s jury trial to begin April 29 in Fargo, expected to last five days.

All parties expected the postponement, defense attorney Mark Friese told The Associated Press. The trial was initially scheduled to begin a little over a month after Holmberg’s initial appearance, following a two-year investigation, he said.

“It’s very common. … He’s entitled to be able to take a look at what they’ve been looking at,” Friese said.

Holmberg also is accused of receiving images depicting child sexual abuse. The indictment against him was unsealed Oct. 30. He has pleaded not guilty. He was released with conditions.

Holmberg served over 45 years in the North Dakota Senate. He resigned last year in the wake of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead reporting on dozens of text messages he exchanged with a man in jail on charges related to images of child sexual abuse.

The former senator was one of the Legislature’s more powerful lawmakers. He chaired the Senate Appropriations Committee, which wrote budgets, and a top legislative panel that guides the Legislature between its biennial sessions.

Holmberg made dozens of state-funded trips throughout the U.S. and the world in the last decade. His travels included at least three trips to Prague in the Czech Republic and to other European cities funded by the state and arranged through the Global Bridges teacher exchange program. It’s unclear whether the alleged conduct occurred during those trips.

The retired school counselor worked for Grand Forks Public Schools from 1967 to 2002. He also was a teacher and a child find coordinator.

NOVEMBER 3, 2023:

Extended version:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former North Dakota legislator charged with traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor used state funds to pay for at least three trips to that city and to other destinations in Europe, according to a group that organized the travel.

Travel records from the North Dakota School Boards Association show that former state senator Ray Holmberg used public funding for trips in 2011, 2018 and 2019 to Prague in the Czech Republic and to other cities, including Amsterdam and Berlin. The trips were arranged through the Germany-based Global Bridges teacher exchange program, which received funding from the North Dakota Legislature.

A federal indictment unsealed Monday charged Holmberg with traveling to Prague with the intent of paying for sex with a minor and also with receiving images depicting child sexual abuse. Holmberg, 79, has pleaded not guilty.

It’s unclear whether the alleged conduct happened during the publicly funded trips. But the indictment says Holmberg traveled to Prague “from on or about June 24, 2011, to on or about Nov. 1, 2016 … for the purpose of engaging in any illicit sexual conduct.” One of the travel records for the funded trips lists a departure date of June 24, 2011, to Prague and other cities.

The North Dakota Legislature gave money to the state Department of Public Instruction, which essentially passed it along to Global Bridges to pay for trips for teachers and legislators.

State Rep. Bob Martinson said he picked the legislators who went on the trips, usually a combination of men and women, House and Senate, Democratic and Republican for “a balanced group of people who were interested in learning and would all get along together so it would not be a political trip.”

Holmberg “established a really good rapport with Global Bridges, and they liked him, and they requested that he go to those meetings. They wanted him involved,” Martinson said.

His brother, former Association Executive Director Jon Martinson, was the project director and participated in the selection of teachers for the trips. Holmberg traveled with teachers twice and also on independent trips where he was invited to participate, such as for a forum, annual meeting or symposium, said Jon Martinson. He said he didn’t know how many trips Holmberg took through the program.

The trips are beneficial for legislators because of the knowledge they gain on topics such as energy and international relations, Jon Martinson said.

Bob and Jon Martinson said they didn’t know of what Holmberg is accused of doing in Prague.

Holmberg declined to answer questions from The Associated Press.

“My lawyer tells me don’t talk to anyone because I’ve got that criminal thing, so I’m following my attorney’s advice,” Holmberg said Wednesday.

Bob Martinson called the allegations raised by the indictment “terribly sad.” Holmberg has been a friend for over 40 years, he said.

The state-paid travel was first reported by KFGO and The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead.

Gov. Doug Burgum’s spokesman, Mike Nowatzki, said, “Speaking broadly, (Burgum) finds such allegations involving children disturbing and disgusting and believes perpetrators should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Longtime Democratic state Sen. Tim Mathern said he has “no objection to conferences and ways to educate our legislators about what’s going on in the world, but certainly the scrutiny needs to be much higher.” The Legislature could take “a fine-tooth comb going through our budgets,” provide accountability such as names of people “promoting certain things,” and revisit records retention, he said.

If Holmberg traveled on the state’s dime to commit the alleged conduct, “I would say it was a misuse of dollars,” Mathern said. “I have no question that this was a misuse of tax dollars.” The situation indicates “we as a system need to make some changes,” he said.

Holmberg served over 45 years in the North Dakota Senate. He was a powerful lawmaker, chairing the Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets, and a top legislative panel that handles legislative matters between biennial sessions. He took dozens of state-funded trips throughout the U.S. and abroad in the last decade, according to legislative travel records.

Holmberg resigned last year after The Forum reported on his dozens of text messages exchanged with a man in jail at the time on charges related to images of child sexual abuse.

A state panel on Thursday (Nov. 2, 2023) voted unanimously to suspend Holmberg’s lifetime teaching license, intending to revoke it immediately if he pleads guilty to or is convicted of any charge based on the case’s underlying facts, according to the motion in meeting minutes.

Holmberg, who is retired, had a career with Grand Forks Public Schools from 1967 to 2002, including years as a teacher, child find coordinator and counselor.

OCTOBER 31, 2023:

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley released the following statement regarding the federal indictment of former State Senator Ray Holmberg:

“A federal grand jury has indicted former State Senator Ray Holmberg, alleging he received and possessed child pornography and travelled outside the United States to engage in commercial sexual activity with someone under the age of 18. I commend the United States Attorney’s Office for directing this painstaking investigation in the pursuit of justice. In early February 2022, within hours of my taking the Oath of Office as Attorney General, the US Attorney’s Office and the leadership of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) briefed me on the early stages of this joint federal and state investigation. I immediately instructed the BCI to move this case to priority status where it remains today, due to the ongoing nature of this investigation.”

“State and federal law enforcement remain committed to securing justice in this important case, and to shedding light on concerning matters surrounding these allegations. Anyone with information pertaining to this and associated investigations should contact the BCI at 701-328-5500, or Homeland Security Investigations 24 hour Tip Line at 866-347-2423.”

OCTOBER 30, 2023:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A former longtime North Dakota lawmaker has been indicted on a federal charge alleging he traveled to Prague with the intent to rape a minor.

The four-page indictment against former Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg also charges him with one count of receiving images depicting child sexual abuse. The indictment was filed Thursday in federal court in North Dakota.

It accuses the 79-year-old Holmberg of traveling from North Dakota to the Czech Republic from about June 2011 to November 2016 with intent to rape a person under age 18.

Holmberg’s attorney, Mark Friese, said he was not immediately available for comment. A text message sent to Holmberg was not immediately returned and voicemail on his phone was not set up, so a message could not be left.

Holmberg served over 45 years in the North Dakota Senate until his resignation last year, after local media outlet The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead revealed he exchanged text messages with a person who was jailed on charges related to child sexual abuse images.

Holmberg, a retired school counselor, chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which writes budgets.

He was reimbursed roughly $126,000 for nearly 70 out-of-state trips from 2013 to mid-April 2022 to places that included four dozen U.S. cities, as well as China, Canada, Puerto Rico and several European countries, according to an Associated Press review of his travel records.

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