A former McKenzie County Sheriff’s deputy has been charged with 44 Class C felony counts of possession of child sex abuse material (CSAM) in Northwest District Court in Williston

Daniel Boyd Christensen, 38, Alexander, was arrested on Dec. 19, following an investigation by the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. According to the affidavit of probable cause, the investigation began on Dec. 10, 2023, after a cybertip was submitted to the National Centers of Missing and Exploited Children by Synchronoss Technologies, a cloud storage company that provides services for Verizon Wireless.

BCI investigators found the tip was connected to an account that belonged to Christensen at a former address in Williston. The material included in the cybertip involved an image of a child aged 5-10. Investigators ultimately located 48 instances of CSAM within Christensen’s Synchronoss account, including images Christensen allegedly created himself combining social images of a child with pornography and CSAM. A search warrant was executed at Christensen’s residence in Alexander, where additional evidence and CSAM was located and extracted from his cellphone.

Christensen made his initial appearance on Dec. 19, and was held in custody on a $50,000 bond. Christensen posted bond on Monday and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 21, 2025.