Joshua Christensen Receives Twenty Years at Montana State Prison for Child Abuse

On December third of 2023, Deputy Contini responded to a report of an unresponsive infant at the Ideal Motel. Chritensen’s, who are not from Roundup, were residing at the Ideal Motel. The five-week-old child’s mother had left it with its stepfather to take a shower. Upon returning from her shower, she found the baby unresponsive in the stepfather’s care.

Deputy Contini and Highway Patrol Trooper Pat Herman immediately transferred the baby to Roundup Memorial Hospital upon arrival, where the child was then transferred to St. Vincent’s Hospital to be placed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. From there it was determined that the infant was in critical condition, and that the injuries were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome. St. Vincents then did a CT scan which showed significant brain hemorrhaging and swelling.

Fast forward, the child’s stepfather Joshua Christensen, the defendant, was arrested, pleaded guilty, and finally sentenced on October 15th 2024 at the Musselshell County Courthouse. “By criminal law standards, this (the sentencing) was lightning speed.” States new county attorney, Ben Krakowka.

The case was brought forward by County Attorney, Adam Larsen, who did the pretrial work, the charging documents, and the investigation, with the assistance of local law enforcement. Deputy Contini and local law enforcement diligently and thoroughly investigated and gathered every single piece of evidence, as well as interviewing the suspects. They were able to bring a solid case to the jury, so complete, that the defendant pleaded guilty.

If it had not been for the fast response by officer Contini, the infant would have likely died. The cruel and gruesome nature of the crime has permanently changed the life of the child, who will likely be blind with brain damage and never have a normal life. “The child’s present and future were destroyed by the defendant” speaks Ben Krakowka, who also served on the case.

The defendant has been transferred to Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge Montana to serve his sentence of twenty years.