Himrod man pleads guilty to child molestation, sentenced to 12 years

In Yates County Criminal Court on November 26th Robert Christensen Jr., 57, of Himrod, was sentenced to a maximum security prison for 12 years combined, on his convictions for child molestation.

For 1st degree criminal sex act (class B felony), Judge Jason L. Cook sentenced Christensen to 7 years in prison and 20 years of parole supervision as a registered sex offender; for 1st degree sexual abuse of a child (class D felony), he received a consecutive sentence of 5 years in prison and 10 years parole supervision. He was also adjudicated as a Level 3 sex offender in a risk assessment hearing on his earlier conviction for 25 counts of possession of child pornography (class E felony).

Christensen’s arrests came after three grand jury indictments over a year as police investigations revealed more and more crimes, the most serious involving sexually abusing three children under age 11. In a May 2018 indictment, Christensen was charged with two counts of first-degree sexual abuse (class D felony), two counts of attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor (class E felony), and one count of endangering the welfare of a child (class A misdemeanor). In a July 2019 indictment, he was charged with 1st degree sexual act (class B violent felony), 3rd degree criminal sexual act (class E felony), forcible touching, and sexual misconduct (class A misdemeanors).