Ex-judge sentenced to prison on 3 felony charges in sexual misconduct case

OGDEN, Utah (KSL) — A former justice court judge from Box Elder County has been sentenced to prison time in his sexual misconduct case.

Judge Catherine Conklin on Monday sentenced Kevin Robert Christensen, 65, to prison terms of zero to five years on each of the three counts he pleaded guilty to last April, enticing a minor on the internet and two counts of dealing in materials harmful to a minor. They are all third-degree felonies.

Departing from the more lenient recommendation from Christensen’s attorney and the Utah Attorney General’s Office, which prosecuted the matter, Conklin ordered that the three prison terms be served consecutively, not concurrently. Christensen has already been jailed for 459 days.

Conklin noted that Christensen had no prior criminal history and had held a position of trust as a Box Elder County Justice Court judge in Brigham City.

“His true character, though, was revealed in the online chats that demonstrated a sexual deviancy and interest in female children. Maintaining the public facade while living this secret life speaks volumes about Mr. Christensen’s true character,” she said. “As to his rehabilitative needs, he clearly needs treatment.”

Christensen, shackled and wearing black-and-white striped Davis County jail garb, addressed Conklin before sentencing, expressing sorrow for what happened.

“The sorrow I feel is truly beyond words. It’s not me feeling sorry for myself. It’s feeling sorrow for those I’ve hurt and betrayed. I’m so sorry for the hurt I’ve caused any victims or potential victims out there,” he said. “The chats I initiated and participated in were truly awful.”

Christensen’s attorney, Ryan Bushell, had argued for his release on bail, given the 459 days he has already served in line with a sentencing report in the case. Austin Memmott, who prosecuted the case for the Utah Attorney General’s Office, had pressed for prison time.

Christensen served as a justice court judge in the Box Elder County Justice Court in Brigham City in March 2025 when he was arrested on the varied charges, rooted in a tip from late 2024 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He resigned shortly after being charged, and his case was moved from 1st District Court to 2nd District Court in Ogden. In October, a judge denied bail for the man, and he has remained at the Davis County Jail.

Christensen engaged in sexually graphic online chats with a 13-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl, who haven’t been identified, according to charging papers. He sent a graphic video of himself to the 13-year-old and possibly sent a graphic photo of himself to the older girl, according to the charges. The documents also say he sought child sex abuse material from the 16-year-old, tried to get child sex abuse material from others and deleted chats on his electronic devices related to the varied communications.

Christensen initially faced five additional felony charges in the case, but they were dropped as part of the April plea deal.

Speaking after sentencing, Christensen’s estranged adopted daughter Kenzie, who asked that only her first name be used, lauded the sentence. She had worried he’d get more lenient treatment.

“I don’t know, really, how to put it into words, but I feel like we got some type of justice today,” she said. She and others accompanying her to the sentencing “wanted prison time, and that’s what we got.”

A day after Christensen was charged last year, former Tremonton Fire Chief Ned Brady Hansen was charged with eight counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony. According to court records, the two shared disturbing chats about sexually abusing children. Brady was later charged with a count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, also a first-degree felony, after additional allegations surfaced.

Brady has pleaded not guilty to the sexual exploitation counts, and he’s next to appear in court in the two cases on July 2.

‘A risk to the community’

Bushell address Conklin for more than 45 minutes, arguing for a lesser sentence for Christensen — probation and release from jail given the 459 days he’s already served. He pointed to the sentencing recommendation prepared as part of the presentence report into the case by Utah Adult Probation and Parole officials, zero to 120 days of jail and probation.

Moreover, investigators never found child sexual abuse material, or CSAM, on any of his electronic devices, Bushell said, and never positively identified the 13- and 16-year-old girls involved in the chats that led to the charges against him.

The content of the chats is “horrific in nature, but the hard, cold truth of this case is that while Mr. Christensen engaged in these chats, he never received CSAM. He never touched a single person,” Bushell said. The terms of the presentence report, he continued, “are appropriate. They’re consistent with what the Legislature and the state sentencing commission find should be imposed on Mr. Christensen.”

He also pointed to the repercussions Christensen is already feeling and his commitment to getting psychological treatment. “He has a career and a life that was ruined. He’s going to be on the sex offender registry for his entire life,” Bushell said.

Memmott, meantime, had tougher words, referencing language investigators pulled from some of Christensen’s online communications.

“Mr. Christensen spends his time telling other pedophiles online how he would like to sexually abuse children, how he prefers the age range of zero to 15, how he uses encrypted apps to build this collection of child sex abuse material,” Memmott said. Christensen, furthermore, sent pictures of young girls he’s acquainted with “to pedophiles online.”

Memmott argued that Christensen would pose a risk to the public. “He is a risk to the community, to children everywhere he goes, and he cannot be adequately supervised on probation,” he said.

Christensen, being held in solitary confinement, said he’s changed while in jail and ready for counseling. “Your honor, I really messed up, but I promise what I’ve done will never happen again. I promise you, I’m not a danger to society in any way. I’ve also worked from the spiritual side of things and trying to make things right with God,” he said.

In handing down her sentence, Conklin called the presentence report “flawed” due to certain omissions and singled out Christensen’s 29-year tenure as justice court judge, among other things. She also noted observations outlined in the presentence report that Christensen seems to be in denial about the criminal counts against him and blames others.

“With the code of judicial ethics, judges are to be beyond reproach both on the bench and off. Judges are not above the law, and judges are not to do anything to damage the integrity and reputation of the judiciary,” Conklin said. “Despite that, Mr. Christensen chose on multiple occasions to engage in behavior that was both wildly inappropriate and, in these situations, illegal.”

Later Monday, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown issued a statement singling out Christensen’s role as a justice court judge. “No one is above the law, and this office will keep proving that,” Brown said.