Ex-judge pleads guilty to 3 felony charges in sexual misconduct case

OGDEN — A former judge from Box Elder County accused of sexually enticing two minors and sharing disturbing chats with a Tremonton fire chief about sexually abusing children pleaded guilty to three felony charges in his case, and five others will be dropped.

Kevin Robert Christensen, 65, appeared in 2nd District Court in Ogden on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to a count of enticing a minor using the internet and two counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, all third-degree felonies. Five other charges he faced are to be dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Christensen, 65, charged last year in 1st District Court, had faced eight counts in all, including two counts of enticing a minor using the internet, one a second-degree felony and one a third-degree felony. He also faced three counts of attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and a count of obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies, and two counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor, a third-degree felony.

He’s being held in the Davis County Jail, and he appeared Thursday in court in a gray-and-white striped prison jumpsuit with shackles around his waist and wrists. He said little during his appearance, entering guilty pleas on the three charges and affirming that he understood the proceedings.

Sentencing will be held June 8. The Utah Attorney General’s Office has agreed with Christensen’s side that the sentences for the charges should run concurrently, according to Christensen’s attorney, Ryan Bushell. The final determination, though, will be left to Judge Catherine Conklin, presiding over the case.

Christensen was a judge in Utah’s 1st District Justice Court in Brigham City in March 2025 when he was arrested on the varied charges and booked into the Davis County Jail. He resigned shortly after being charged, and his case was moved from 1st District Court, where he had served as judge, to 2nd District Court in Ogden. In October, a 2nd District Court judge denied bail for the man, and he has remained at the Davis County Jail.

Charging papers say Christensen engaged in sexually graphic online chats with a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl, who haven’t been identified, and sent graphic pictures and video of himself to them. The documents also say he sought sought child sex abuse material from the 16-year-old, engaged in efforts to get child sex abuse material from someone else and deleted chats on his electronic devices related to the varied communications.

Authorities were tipped off to the case by investigators from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force.

A day after Christensen was charged last year, former Tremonton Fire Chief Ned Brady Hansen was charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony. According to court records, the two shared disturbing chats about sexually abusing children.

Ned Brady Hansen is sworn in as Tremonton Fire Chief in August 2023. Hansen, since fired, faces a range of charges related to sexual misconduct and is to next appear in court on April 30. (Photo: Tremonton City)

Hansen, since fired from the firefighting post, had earlier been booked into the Box Elder County Jail on Jan. 27, 2025, after Brigham City police executing a search warrant at his home seized several devices for processing. Investigators asked a judge — Christensen — to keep Hansen in custody without the possibility of posting bail, but Christensen allowed for his release.

Turns out Christensen and Hansen, unbeknownst to authorities at the time, had allegedly engaged in sexually charged chats regarding children and engaged in a sexual relationship, according to court documents. Their alleged connection publicly came out in March of last year when both men were formally charged, and Hansen is now being held in the Weber County Jail as his case winds through the court system.

Last July, a new charge was filed against Hansen in 2nd District Court in Ogden after a girl came forward saying she had been inappropriately touched by him. He was charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child in that matter, a first-degree felony. Hansen is to return to court on April 30 for a hearing in his cases.

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This story will be updated.