No bail today for former fire chief
Hansen, Christensen set for March 20 hearings
OGDEN, Utah – Former Tremonton Fire Chief Ned Brady Hansen remains in the Weber County Jail on no bail following a March 17 virtual initial appearance before Judge Reuben Renstrom in Utah’s 2nd District Court in Ogden.
An initial appearance in a Utah district court generally includes reading of the charges, information about the defendant’s rights, including the right to defense counsel, and a decision on whether a defendant will be released on bail.
Hansen, charged with eight counts of Aggravated Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, waived formal reading of the charges. He was represented by defense attorney Shannon Demler.
Renstrom declined to rule on bail because of Hansen’s alleged ties to a similar case against former Box Elder Justice Court Judge Kevin Christensen.
“I understand that [Hansen] does not have a codefendant. But I’m also aware, generally, of the cases. This court has recused itself from what may become a codefendant in the matter,” Renstrom said.
Hansen was originally arrested on January 27 after investigators found a large amount of child porn on Hansen’s phone. They also found chats on other devices in which Hansen discussed, in explicit detail, his fantasies of sexual abuse and rape against victims, regardless of age.
He appeared before Christensen, who allowed him to bail out the same day on a $50,000 bond. In spite of law enforcement requests to hold Hansen without bail because they believed he posed a significant threat to the community, a Public Safety Assessment Report time-stamped at 4:03 p.m. on Jan 27 determined Hansen was not an elevated risk for committing a violent crime while on bail.
That bond was apparently rescinded after officials discovered a connection between the men.
Law enforcement officials did not know at the time of Hansen’s hearing in Christensen’s court that the judge and Hansen had allegedly already had a sexual relationship and had shared child pornography and graphic conversations about sexually abusing children, including Christensen’s own grandchildren, according to court papers.
Hansen appeared on law enforcement’s radar on Nov 21, 2024, after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a CyberTipline report that an internet user on Kik, a chat application, possessed and had distributed child pornography, according to the indictment and Probable Cause Affidavit. The Utah Attorney General’s Office ICAC task force investigated and identified Hansen as the user.
On Nov 26, 2024, Christensen deleted all evidence from his devices and stopped using Kik after he found out that Hansen had been caught distributing child porn. The deleted evidence dated to at least Aug 2024, according to the probable cause statement, and included graphic details of conversations, photos and video of Christensen engaging with individuals, including some who he believed were minors.
On Feb 28, investigators from the FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force (CEHTF) became aware of and identified Christensen as a Kik user engaged in sex crimes against minors. The judge had already deleted the evidence from his devices, but investigators got a warrant to search Christensen’s activity on the app. Christensen was arrested on eight charges that include 2nd degree felony sexual activity, 3rd degree felony dealing in materials harmful to a minor, aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and obstruction of justice.
Christensen is currently held without bail in the Davis County Jail.
Christensen and Hansen were both originally charged in Box Elder’s 1st District Court. The entire First District Court was recused from the Christensen case, and it was transferred to 2nd District Court in Ogden.
Renstrom and two other Second District judges, Camille Neider and Jason Nelson, have also recused themselves in the Christensen case. Christensen’s case was assigned to 2nd District Court Judge Joseph Bean.
“I’ve never met Mr. Hansen, but where I’ve recused in what may become a codefendant, I don’t know that I feel horribly comfortable doing much on this case today,” said Renstrom at Monday’s hearing.
Renstrom sent Hansen’s case to Bean as well. Now Christensen and Hansen are both scheduled for an in-person appearance on March 20 before Bean, at which Hansen’s attorney said Monday that he intends to argue for bail for his client.
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