Criminal child sex abuse charges filed against north Utah fire chief
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Cassidy Wixom, KSL.com
TREMONTON, Utah (KSL.com) — Tremonton’s fire chief, who was arrested in January and accused of sharing child sex abuse material, is now facing eight felony charges.
Ned Brady Hansen, 54, of Garland, Box Elder County, was charged Tuesday in 1st District Court with eight counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony. The charges allege that Hansen 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.
The investigation began in November 2024 when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received information that “a certain internet-based application had engaged in the distribution of child sex abuse material.” Law enforcement was then able to connect the account to Hansen, charging documents state.
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Hansen was booked into the Box Elder County Jail on Jan. 27 after Brigham City police executed a search warrant at his home. Several devices were seized by police for processing at the time of arrest.
After detectives discovered explicit videos of a preteen girl, Hansen “admitted to having possessed the videos identified … and being the account subscriber,” a police booking affidavit alleges.
Investigators say they also discovered several internet chats in which Hansen discussed sexual abuse of children. According to prosecutors, Hansen said he enjoys child sexual abuse material but tries “to stay out of trouble.”
“In another chat, the defendant states that he ‘totally would’ molest a child ‘if (he) could get away with it,'” the charges state.
In an interview with police, Hansen said “he had a pornography addiction and that over the previous several years he had developed tastes for younger females,” according to the charging documents.
Hansen started his career in South Ogden and took a position as assistant fire chief in Logan in 2000, according to the Logan website. Hansen was the Jackson Hole Fire/EMS chief from 2017 to September 2022, when he retired and moved back to Logan, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported.
The fire chief was hired by Tremonton in August 2023.