A Voice for Victims
For prosecutor Arielle Dean, seeking justice isn't just a career — It's a calling
As Chief Deputy county attorney for Yellowstone County, Arielle Dean is on the frontlines in a war against crimes targeting women and children. She spends her days fighting for some of our community’s most vulnerable — domestic abuse victims and children targeted by sexual predators.
One case she’ll never forget: a violent attack on a sweet and spicy 3-year-old girl.
“This bright, beautiful girl was brutally beaten by her mom’s boyfriend at the time,” Arielle says. “If she hadn’t received medical care, she was probably within about 10 minutes of dying. We ended up going to trial and got a good outcome. The amount of love the girl’s family has for her and the progress she was able to make because of her support system is incredible.”
The cruelty of the crimes hurts Arielle’s heart and fuels her desire for justice. As the head of criminal litigation for the county attorney’s office, Dean and her team of 14 attorneys prosecute everything from homicides to violent robberies to assaults. Arielle specializes in prosecuting perpetrators of violent crimes against women and children. Most people wouldn’t have the strength or skills to handle that type of work. But this mother of three not only loves her job; she sees it as a calling.
“I tell my kids all the time, ‘Mommy’s job is to keep you safe,’” Arielle says. “Getting to do that for them and for this community is a great gift.”
One aspect of Arielle’s job involves working with undercover detectives in sting cases that target online sexual predators. In 2024, the Department of Homeland Security honored her with the HSI Denver Partnership award for successfully prosecuting several of those cases. Arielle says it was a complete team effort and was very rewarding to see Yellowstone County recognized for proactively fighting online crime.
“Being able to identify and prosecute predators before they had committed a hands-on offense was great,” Arielle says, adding the cases sparked awareness. “I hope some of the takeaways from that were people helping their kids be safe online, being aware of who they’re talking to online.”
Outside the courtroom, Arielle is known for her warmth and kindness. Many will tell you it’s a different story when takes on the role of a prosecutor.
“You need to be ready to roll with the punches,” Arielle says. “It’s a very focused mindset and you must be constantly thinking big picture, outside the box and on your feet.”
Arielle was born and raised in Billings. She earned her undergraduate degree from Gonzaga University in Spokane before heading to the University of Denver for her law degree. Before landing the job with the Yellowstone County Attorney’s office in 2020, she worked for four years in the largest district attorney’s office in the Denver metro area. In her final year there, she was promoted to the Special Victims Unit, where she learned valuable skills for prosecuting sex offenders and advocating for victims, especially children. That big city experience has paid off here in Billings.
“In terms of crimes against women and children, she kind of took the bull by the horns,” says her boss, Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito. “She’ll take tough cases to trial, which I think in turn empowers the office, empowers the law enforcement agencies we work with, and more importantly, empowers the folks affected by crime — whether that’s a victim or perhaps a witness.”
Many of the violent crimes the county attorney’s office handles are committed against victims who can’t fight for themselves. Montana Department of Corrections statistics show that in 2024, male criminal defendants were found guilty of 27 counts of sexual abuse of children in Yellowstone County. That same year, there were 19 partner or family member assault convictions and 15 convictions on charges of strangulation of a partner or family member. Proving these types of cases isn’t easy, but Arielle likes the challenge.
“I like being able to think creatively,” she says. “What are other ways we can corroborate what a child says or help a victim of domestic violence or sexual violence?”
The job requires a tough stomach, grit and perseverance. Arielle is the first to admit some days are very tough emotionally and mentally.
“I’ve had some really horrific cases where we got good outcomes at the end of the day, where there is relief for the victims,” Arielle says. “There are challenging days, but there are some extremely rewarding days, and those keep you going.”
In the last few years, Arielle and her team at the county attorney’s office have won convictions in several difficult cases, including the rape of a blind woman and sex crimes that a Billings restaurant owner committed against several employees. Arielle also successfully argued for a prison sentence for a man who physically assaulted a baby girl, leaving her blind and disabled.
The violence, brutality and life-changing impacts on victims and families are difficult to witness, but on tough days, Arielle draws strength from a surprising source: the resilience of survivors who have suffered devastating abuse.
“I think the human spirit is so powerful and, for children in particular, they are way tougher than people give them credit for,” she says. “They can overcome things that most adults look at and think ‘there’s no way,’ and then they do and prove everybody wrong.”
What is harder for Arielle to accept is the fact that no matter how hard she fights, some of the victims she encounters will never be made whole.
“The most challenging aspect of my job is knowing that there are times where no matter what we do and no matter what the outcome, no matter how great the sentence, we can't fix the damage that has been done,” she says.
Arielle stresses that dealing with violent crimes against women and children requires a strong team — one that includes not only her co-workers, but community partners like the Billings and Laurel police departments, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, Child and Family Services and the Yellowstone County Child Advocacy Center.
“This community is amazing,” Arielle says. “We have such incredible people here and it’s an honor to support those people and also hold accountable those who need to be held accountable.”
Each month, a multidisciplinary team of community partners meets to discuss current cases and best practices for conducting forensic interviews. Questioning women and children who are victims of sexual violence is particularly challenging because it requires getting at the truth in a way that doesn’t further traumatize victims.
“Arielle is very passionate about that and making sure we, as interviewers, are asking the correct questions and asking them in a nonthreatening way,” says Tricia Loving, the director of the Yellowstone Valley Child Advocacy Center. “We want these bad guys to go away, and we want to know what happened, but what comes first is these children and not traumatizing them.”
“When a child comes forward and makes a disclosure, usually they’re not lying about that. “Research tells us how we support it in that moment really impacts how they’re able to talk about things down the road,” she adds.
One of Arielle’s strengths is her ability to connect with victims and help them fully understand their cases and the legal system.
“She really takes the time to sit down and reach out to them and try to be really communicative and transparent,” Scott Twito says.
Arielle says she feels for domestic abuse victims who often believe they are trapped and unable to leave their abusive partners.
“I talk to survivors a lot who express concerns like, ‘I don’t have anywhere to go; he pays all the bills,’” Arielle says. “It is totally understandable why people have a hard time getting out of those situations.”
When abuse is reported, those cases are taken seriously, she says. “Between our office and the city attorney’s office, there has been a ton of work toward good outcomes.”
Arielle wants victims to know support is available if they do decide to come forward.
“There are really great organizations to help support them, like the Family Justice Center and the YWCA,” she says. “Also, when a child goes to a forensic interview with the Child Advocacy Center, there are a whole bunch of resources available to them there and through Riverstone Health.”
If you ask Arielle, educating the community is critical to reducing violent crime. She’s also made it her mission to teach law enforcement about changes in Montana laws that impact how they process different types of violent crimes.
“We actually have really great laws here in Montana,” she says. “Specifically, with our sexual intercourse without consent statute and some others, there is what’s called a Jessica’s Law provision covering children aged 12 and under. A person convicted must serve 25 years in prison before they’re even eligible for parole.”
In 2019, another law took effect that helps prosecutors like Arielle seek justice in sexual crimes against children. Before then, a statute of limitations restricted the amount of time a victim had to seek charges against someone who had sex with a child. For cases of sexual abuse of children that have occurred from 2019 forward, that statute of limitations was wiped away. That can help young victims seek justice, since it’s common to see long delays in reporting those types of crimes.
With often heavy cases, Arielle says she works to find balance and makes the most of family time with her husband, Austin, and their three children.
“It’s really important is to try to compartmentalize as best I can,” Arielle says. “I try to take care of myself and my mental health so I can make sure I can show up and be the best person I can be at work and at home.”
Family has always been important to Arielle. Her roots run deep here in Billings, and longtime residents may remember a young Arielle appearing with her dad, Shawn Hanser, in TV commercials for Hanser’s Automotive many years ago. She credits her dad with pointing her toward a legal career. She’s not the first Hanser, however, to work in the county attorney’s office. Her great uncle, Harold Hanser, served as Yellowstone County attorney for two decades.
Arielle finds deep meaning in her work, and, at just 34 years old, she hopes to seek justice for crime victims for many years to come.
“I’m honored and happy to be a voice for people who are unable to stand up for themselves,” she says. “I just love getting to be that voice.”
