New North Dakota Effort Seeks To Prevent Child Sexual Exploitation

(Mary Steurer/North Dakota Monitor)

(North Dakota Monitor) – Six victim advocacy groups said that a new initiative to help the public better protect kids in response to several high-profile cases of child abuse and sex trafficking that dominated headlines in 2025.

Advocates said the new organization, called the North Dakota HOPE Project, was prompted by events like the criminal conviction of former state Sen. Ray Holmberg of Grand Forks, who last March was sentenced to 10 years in prison for a child sex crime.

“For many survivors, 2025 felt like a year of nonstop retraumatization,” Stacy Schaffer, executive director of the 31:8 Project, said in a statement announcing the project. “This initiative is about reminding survivors that help exists — and reminding communities that exploitation is preventable.”

The acronym HOPE stands for healing, outreach, prevention and empowerment.