WEBER COUNTY — The former fire chief of Tremonton, Ned Brady Hansen, has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to sex crimes after a case was brought forth linking him to a former Box Elder County judge in child sexual exploitation allegations.
Hansen, 54, pleaded not guilty on Monday to eight counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. In July, he was also charged with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, after a 10-year-old victim came forth about her abuse. A preliminary hearing was waived and will likely take place in the next six weeks.
According to court documents, following Hansen’s arrest in January, a female child under the age of 10, over whom Hansen “occupied a position of special trust,” told her parents that she believed that he had sexually abused her. The Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed the child, who told law enforcement that Hansen had sexually abused her on multiple occasions.
FBI investigators discovered that Hansen had allegedly discussed his engagement in “the sexual abuse of underage children in the past” in messages with other users. The descriptions of the abuse in the messages reportedly matched up with the account the child victim shared during her interview. Hansen also allegedly took care to ensure his sexual abuse “can be justified as otherwise normal behavior.”
Hansen is accused of discussing and exchanging graphic sexual images of children with former Box Elder County Judge Kevin Christensen, who resigned from his position in March amid the allegations. Christensen has also been charged with nine felonies, including two counts of enticing a minor and three counts of attempted aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. He pleaded not guilty to his charges in July. Christensen is accused of having graphic sexual conversations with underage girls as young as 13 years old and exchanging sexually explicit videos and pictures.
Individuals arrested and charged in complaints are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.