2023-09-29 16:30:19
FARGO — A Grand Forks man
connected to a former North Dakota senator
has admitted to possessing thousands of child porn files, some of which he shared with others.
Nicholas James Morgan-Derosier, 35,
pleaded guilty on Friday, Sept. 29, in U.S. District Court to
one count of receipt and distribution of child porn and six counts of possessing child porn.
Other charges that alleged he brought two young children from the Twin Cities area to his home with plans to sexually abuse them will be dismissed.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 19, 2024.
The charges stem from a September 2020 search of Morgan-Derosier’s home. Prosecutors said Morgan-Derosier had thousands of images depicting adult men sexually abusing children, some of whom were less than 12 years old, stored on laptops and other devices. One child was between the ages of 4 and 7 years old, First Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Puhl said Friday in court.
Morgan-Derosier also shared child porn with others on various messaging platforms, Puhl said.
Investigators have identified 48 children who were depicted in the child porn, Puhl said. That number is likely to grow, she said.
Morgan-Derosier has reserved his right to appeal U.S. District Judge Peter Welte’s ruling on a motion to suppress evidence. His attorney, Christopher Bellmore, argued the initial 2020 search warrant, which was for evidence in a construction fraud case against Morgan-Derosier, was overly broad and was executed in an unreasonable manner.
An investigator explained they were looking for evidence involving Morgan-Derosier’s business activities while operating Team Lawn and Landscaping when they found child porn on his computer, according to court documents. The investigator stopped looking through the computer files and applied for a search warrant seeking evidence of Morgan-Derosier possessing child porn.
Morgan-Derosier faces up to 20 years in prison, with a minimum sentence of five years. Sentencing will depend on various factors, including allegations that he displayed a pattern of exploiting children.
If prosecutors can show that pattern, Morgan-Derosier could face a stiffer sentence of between five and 20 years. The defense is expected to argue against that enhancement.
Prosecutors will present testimony at the Jan. 19 sentencing hearing in an attempt to prove Morgan-Derosier has shown a pattern of exploiting children. Welte gave the defense and prosecution three hours on Jan. 19 to present their arguments.
Connections to the nation’s longest-serving state senator
The Forum has reported that jail phone logs, transcripts, police reports and other documents
have shown ties between Morgan-Derosier and former Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks.
Holmberg gave Morgan-Derosier a ride to Bismarck in October 2020 so Morgan-Derosier could discuss his construction fraud case with the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
The two also
exchanged dozens of text messages
in August 2021 when Morgan-Derosier was in jail on child porn charges filed in Grand Forks County Court, according to jail phone records. Federal prosecutors took over those charges in January 2022.
Holmberg previously told The Forum the text messages were about patio work Morgan-Derosier did for him, among other things. Holmberg said he didn’t have the text messages when contacted by The Forum in April 2022.
During a January 2022 detention hearing for Morgan-Derosier, Puhl said that a “77-year-old man from Grand Forks” asked Morgan-Derosier in one of the text messages to “bring (Morgan-Derosier’s 19- or 20-year-old boyfriend) over to his house to give him a massage,” according to federal court transcripts of the hearing.
Federal investigators
searched Holmberg’s home
in November 2021 and seized several items, including
state issued devices
, according to the North Dakota Legislative Council. Those items were not returned as of early September.
Considered one of the most powerful legislators in North Dakota,
Holmberg announced
in April 2022, shortly after The Forum reported about the text messages, that he
would resign from office.
At the time, he was the
longest-serving state senator in the nation.
April Baumgarten joined The Forum in February 2019 as an investigative reporter. She grew up on a ranch 10 miles southeast of Belfield, N.D., where her family raises Hereford cattle. She double majored in communications and history/political science at the University of Jamestown, N.D.
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