- Ned Brady Hansen, former Tremonton fire chief, faces a new charge of child sex abuse.
- Hansen allegedly abused a young girl and shared explicit content involving children online.
- A Box Elder County judge, who prosecutors say was involved in chats with Hansen, is also charged with sex crimes.
OGDEN — A former Tremonton fire chief accused of sharing disturbing sexual abuse chats with a district judge is now facing a new charge accusing him of sexually abusing a young girl.
Ned Brady Hansen, 54, was charged Wednesday in Weber County's 2nd District Court with aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
Hansen was charged in March with eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor alleging that he distributed an explicit video of a 10-year-old girl on at least six occasions and shared an explicit photograph of two 12-year-old girls on at least two other occasions.
At some point after Hansen was arrested in January, prosecutors say a female child younger than 10 years old told her parents she had been sexually abused by Hansen, according to the new charging documents.
The FBI interviewed the child and agents said she told them Hansen had touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions.
Investigators seized electronic devices from Hansen when he was arrested and found messages he allegedly sent to other "adults who are also sexually interested in children." Hansen told others in the messages that he had sexually abused underage children in the past — including this same child, the charges allege.
"(Hansen) tells these internet users that he is 'very careful' when he engages in sexual abuse and has taken care to ensure that his sexual abuse can be justified as otherwise normal behavior," the charging documents say.
When Hansen was initially arrested, investigators asked 1st District Justice Court Judge Kevin Robert Christensen to keep him in custody without the possibility of posting bail, but Christensen decided to release Hansen.
In March, Christensen was charged with seven felony sex crimes involving children and obstructing justice, a day before official charges were filed against Hansen. Court documents allege that Hansen and Christensen were engaging in highly disturbing chats with each other about sexually abusing children and were also involved in a sexual relationship with each other.
"Christensen did not disclose that he had engaged in sexually charged chats regarding children with defendant Hansen, and law enforcement believes that this fact materially affected the decision-making of Christensen at the time he released Hansen," according to a police booking affidavit.
Hansen was fired after city officials heard of his arrest. Christensen was placed on unpaid leave after charges were filed against him. Both men made their first court appearances in March.
The criminal cases for both men have been transferred to Ogden after judges in Brigham City recused themselves because of their professional connection with Christensen.
