Pedophile judge and fire chief ‘shared fantasies of abusing their own grandchildren’ before their twisted lives came crashing down

To the outside world, they were respectable pillars of the community: a happily married fire chief and a distinguished county judge.

But behind closed doors, the pair were at the center of a sordid pedophile plot that has left their families shattered and two neighboring Utah cities reeling after their secret lives were exposed.

Tremonton Fire Chief Ned Brady Hansen, 54, and Judge Kevin Christensen, 64, of Brigham City are now locked up separately in the Weber and Davis County Jails and both have been charged with multiple felony counts of child sexual exploitation.

During the investigation, police discovered the pair had swapped vile fantasies about abusing their own grandchildren and were also engaging in extramarital gay sex sessions with each other.

‘We’re all devastated,’ Tremonton Mayor Lyle Holmgren told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.

‘We’re all shocked by what has happened in our community, and we’re saddened. We’re saddened for the victims and for those who’ve been affected by this.’

Holmgren, who fired Hansen hours after his January 27 arrest, said both the fire chief and Christensen had been model members of the community – well-liked and successful, offering no outward hint of the depravity within.

But then in November last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that an internet user had ‘engaged in the distribution and possession of child sex abuse material’ and law enforcement identified him as Hansen, court papers reveal.

The police investigation revealed a very different side to the two men and unearthed repulsive conversations on messaging app Kik that saw both solicit child pornography and Hansen reveal his desire to abuse infants – even telling a contact he wanted an infant to use his penis ‘as a pacifier’.

Other revolting discussions included saying he would like to rape a little girl aged as young as three and a sinister chat about kidnapping a homeless child to abuse, it is alleged.

Hansen, a dad-of-four children from two marriages, also described wanting to drug and rape an unconscious person, said he would molest a child if he thought he could get away with it and shared graphic pornographic images and videos of girls aged between nine and 13.

According to his sister-in-law Tia Zeller, 43, her sister Autumn, 49 – who shares a seven-year-old daughter with Hansen – had no idea of her husband’s depraved fantasies and added that the family had been left in ‘shock’ following his arrest at their six-bedroom $651,000 Riverside, Utah, home.

‘It all came as a huge shock,’ she told DailyMail.com. ‘We’re just trying to hang on.’

In a shocking twist, Hansen made his first court appearance in front of Christensen at the Box Elder County Justice Court who, despite being all too familiar with the fire chief’s perverted fantasies and their own sex sessions, released him on a $50,000 bond.

That bond was revoked on March 12 following the disgraced justice’s own arrest.

Christensen, who was first appointed to the court in May 1996, was collared on March 6 at the $430,000 three-bedroom family home in Brigham City he shared with wife Karin, 63.

The disgraced judge was snared after cops seized ‘several phones and tablets’ during a raid on Hansen’s home.

An FBI investigation into the devices unearthed exchanges between Hansen and Christensen that were ‘graphically sexual’ and ‘involved discussion of sexually abusing children’, the papers say.

According to an affidavit included in the case against Hansen, the depraved pair also discussed ‘being turned on by and wanting to share their grandchildren’. Cops noted that in the context of the messages, ‘share’ means to sexually abuse.

When police seized Christensen’s own devices, they found a trove of explicit conversations including two exchanges between the 64-year-old and two girls aged 13 and 16.

In one, Christensen allegedly asked the 13-year-old about masturbation and shared a disgusting fantasy about wanting to make a porn movie featuring the child and one of his granddaughters.

The other saw the 16-year-old send a photograph of her breasts, to which he replied: ‘Oh wow I love your t**s’.

He also sent her images of his penis and a video of himself masturbating, and asked her: ‘Do you do live pics or vids?’

Other sickening exchanges, dating back as far as last March, include discussions with adult users in which he declared ‘I love young’ and asked others for explicit photos showing child sex abuse.

A neighbor told DailyMail.com Christensen’s family have been left devastated by the revelations with shell-shocked Karin having now left the family home to stay with her son.

She added: ‘Honestly, I never noticed anything strange about him. It was a huge shock to everybody, to me, to his wife and kids.

‘It’s really, really horrible. The family are having a hard time.’

Hansen is now charged with eight felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor while Christensen has been slapped with two counts of enticing a minor using the internet, two of distributing child porn, two of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and one of obstruction of justice – the latter relating to his decision to let Hansen go free on bond, against the wishes of the prosecution.

Both men have admitted to being the owners of the graphic Kik accounts, although Christensen claims he believed them all to be ‘fantasy conversations’ while Hansen has blamed his depraved behavior on porn addiction.

Both men appeared in court in Ogden, Utah, on Thursday. Christensen was arraigned while Hansen request to reinstate the bond conditions were denied. Both have indicated plans to plead not guilty.

But for the two tiny cities left shaken by the revelations, the arrests of two prominent citizens continue to reverberate.

‘This is something that came as a complete surprise to us as a community,’ said Mayor Holmgren.

‘Nobody expected anything like this. He [Hansen] was a very much respected. He was the fire chief and an important part of our community.’

Mayor Holmgren, who told DailyMail.com that Hansen had passed strict vetting procedures when he was hired, has now signed a proclamation making April Tremonton’s Sexual Abuse Against Children Awareness month.

He told DailyMail.com he hopes the move will help to restore trust in local governance, raise awareness of the prevalence of child sex abuse and notes in the order that ‘we all have a sacred duty to ensure that no one experiences abuse’.

The proclamation goes on: ‘Tremonton City is taking essential steps to prevent the devastating effects of sexual violence against children and protect these victims and their families.

‘Everyone deserves to live free from the fear of violence, particularly within their own homes and communities.’

The mayor, who is currently looking for a new fire chief, said the city has also cut ties with Christensen who was suspended from his Justice Court job after being arrested and fell on his own sword last week.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, the Box Elder County Attorney’s Office said: ‘Box Elder County received and accepted a letter of resignation from Kevin Christensen dated March 10, 2025.

‘The Utah Administration Office of the Court has been notified by the Box Elder County Justice Court, and they will coordinate the process for finding a replacement.

‘Box Elder County was notified that Kevin Christensen was taken into custody by the FBI on March 6, 2025.

‘Mr. Christensen was immediately placed on administrative leave pending investigation. The Supreme Court of Utah officially placed Mr. Christensen on administrative leave without pay as of March 7, 2025.

‘The State of Utah Judicial Conduct Commission performs investigations into allegations against sitting judges.

‘As a result, Box Elder County will defer to the JCC’s administrative investigation because the criminal and administrative investigations are ongoing and being handled by outside agencies.