SALT LAKE CITY – Investigators said there is a common thread in the sex crimes allegations against former judge Kevin Christensen and a former fire chief Ned Hansen, both of Box Elder County: the chatting app they both allegedly used.

The app Kik is named in arresting documents of both men, who allegedly used it to access child sex abuse materials.

The current assistant commander of the Utah Attorney General's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force said he often comes across the app in his undercover work online. He asked that we not use his name because of his position.

"It's not an app for children," he said. "You can find dating on there. There's half-naked people on there. Child predators are on there."

The assistant commander, however, also adds that he believes all social media should be off-limits for kids and teens.

"I would say that social media platforms and the unknown out there is one of the most dangerous things out there for children right now," he said. "Any app that you can think of that is a chatting app or a social media app, they're not for children."

He also recommends that parents closely monitor what their kids are doing on their phones, even if it is only texting with friends.

"My kids, I look at their phone every single week, randomly," he said. "I'll say, 'Hey, let me have your phones.' They'll be like, 'I haven't been bad.' 'Doesn't matter. Let me see it. That's part of having the phone.'"

The assistant commander also adds that they're seeing a particularly concerning issue lately with extortion. He said parents need to talk with their teens about it and make sure they will come forward if they run into issues.

"Tell them that if they send a nude photo of themselves or a video out there on the internet, that you'll deal with it as a family," he said.

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He also adds that the team of undercover officers online across Utah, have ways of finding predators who may think they can hide.

"A lot of these predators out there think that we are not going to be able to find them because they'll use, an app like Kik that you don't have to put personal information," he said. "But we have investigative tools and technology that is going to find you. And if you hurt children, we're going to find you."

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