Ogden School Resource Officer charged with sexual exploitation of a minor

OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) – An Ogden Police Department school resource officer was taken into custody on Thursday, October 24, charged with sexual exploitation of a minor.

Lt. Will Farr of the Ogden Police Department said Officer Colten Johansen, 55, made a series of disclosures to an outside law enforcement agency that implied his involvement in criminal conduct. A criminal case was immediately opened and referred to the Davis County Sheriff’s Office, leading to his eventual arrest.

According to court documents, Johansen faces 10 counts of second-degree felony sexual exploitation of a minor, in addition to one count of third-degree felony tampering with evidence and one count of official misconduct.

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Johansen reportedly underwent an exam for a future school safety position, court documents show. During that interrogation, Johansen admitted that he had brought a box of files to his house. Those files allegedly contained several sexually explicit images of individuals ranging in age from infants to adults.

The investigator said Johansen allegedly admitted to taking these files and viewing them for his personal entertainment. Detectives reportedly executed a search warrant at Johansen’s home and found the box of files containing several CDs from the Regional Computer Forensics Lab containing images that the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force confirmed contained explicit photos of minors in “various states of nakedness”.

Farr said that based on the information available to investigators, Johansen’s alleged criminal conduct did not occur while he was working as a school resource officer. However, Ogden police said an internal affairs investigation revealed enough information to warrant Johansen’s firing.

According to court documents, Johansen has been ordered held without bail pending a pretrial detention hearing. An investigation is still ongoing, with Lt. Farr saying Ogden Police will continue to cooperate fully.

“The Ogden Police Department remains committed to upholding the trust the public places in us,” Farr said. “We are committed to full transparency and ensuring that the community we serve can continue to rely on the professionalism and ethical behavior of its employees.”

The accusations are just accusations. All persons arrested are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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