OGDEN, Utah — Former Box Elder County Judge Kevin Christensen pleaded not guilty on Thursday to all nine child sex charges that were brought against him earlier this year.
Christensen appeared in an Ogden courtroom where he entered his plea and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He is charged with 3 counts of Enticing a Minor, 3 counts of Attempted Exploitation of a Minor, 2 counts of Dealing in Material Harmful to a Minor and one count of Obstruction of Justice.
The former judge was arrested in early March following an investigation by the FBI's Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force. Christensen was arrested after evidence allegedly showed that he distributed and received child sex abuse material online.
In a chat recovered from Christensen's online account, the judge believed he was speaking with a 13-year-old girl and engaged in sexually graphic conversation, and also sent a video of an adult male performing a sexual act.
Box Elder judge and fire chief shared child porn, fantasies of molestation with each other:
Christensen, who was appointed to the Box Elder County court in May 1996, allegedly had a sexual relationship with former Tremonton Fire Chief Ned Brady Hansen, who was also arrested on charges. On Wednesday, an additional charge of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child was filed against Hansen.
When Hansen was first arrested, he was originally allowed to be released on bail by Christensen. Both men allegedly shared child pornography with each other and discussed fantasies of abusing children together.
Christensen is next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 21.
