Detective starts new chapter with position at local church

Dean Byrns quietly observed pre-sentencing testimony for a pedophile that he helped put behind bars.

The harsh contrast hit him. The week before, he interviewed victims and investigated crimes. Now, he was tackling his second day as associate minister at Libby Christian Church.

The sentencing offered him a bittersweet look back.

“I just sat there and thought, ‘How did I make it this long?’” he said. “Trials really take their toll on you.”

Through the past two decades, Byrns worked his way from patrol officer up to detective at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. Performing primarily as a sex-crimes investigator, 80 percent of his caseload involved rape, incest and other sex-related abuse.   

Now, he’s settling into his role at Libby Christian Church.

He apologized for the sparseness of his new office last week.

“I’m still getting things set up,” he said.

A lone calendar stood out from the otherwise empty walls, but the office held the essentials – chairs set up for visitors, a computer and a telephone. As associate minister, Byrns is responsible for organizing and supporting small group ministry, which encompasses all of the classes and support groups that occur at the church all week. He spent his first week planning, making lists and contacting people.

“I think he’s finding his footing and taking time to talk to a lot of different people here,” said Beth Byrns, Dean’s wife of over 25 years. “He’s making a plan in his mind with how he’s going to grow our small group ministry.”

Beth, who is also employed full-time at the church, looks forward to seeing her husband daily at the place where they met.

“I was a little high school girl in church,” Beth said, recalling the first glimpse of her future husband in 1980. Beth was in the church’s youth group and Dean worked as a logger. “I spotted him and that was that. I never let him go.”

Libby Christian Church has been Dean’s house of worship since he moved to Libby 42 years ago. Though the church has always played a central role in his and his family’s life, he had no immediate plans of making such a drastic career change until last September.

“It was kind of a surprise. Really, it started out with his dad’s prayer,” Beth said. “(Dean’s) dad kept saying that he was praying for him to have that position. One day our minister approached him about it.”

The former associate minister resigned for health-related reasons. One month before Dean’s 20th anniversary on the force – a milestone that allows sheriff’s officers to collect retirement – Libby Christian Church minister Phil Alspaw approached him about the job.

With the support of church leaders, Dean agreed to start in February.

“He has been preparing for it his whole life,” Alspaw said. “He has been a leader in this church for years.”

Since he’s in his office five days per week, Dean can greet new visitors and lend an ear to church members.

Dean believes that his experience interacting with people during emotional situations will help him be a sympathetic listener. As an officer, Dean had on many occasions consoled those who lost a loved one. 

“Words become important,” Dean said. “You don’t need a lot of words, but put a hand on their shoulder and tell them you are sorry about that. You can’t really say you understand every time.”

Dean anticipates that his experience interacting with victims and victimizers will also be helpful.

“I hope that there will be things along the way that I can help people with so that they won’t end up in the sheriff’s office or in the jail,” Dean said.

Dean will be providing support to church members who have helped him through the difficult parts of his law-enforcement career.  

“The church is somewhere where I can retreat to, (and turn to) people that could help build me up as friends,” Dean said. “I was able to turn some of the things that happened in the job environment over to God.

“I could have a tough day where maybe I interviewed a kid that had been sexually abused, and maybe I had an unattended death,” Dean explained. “With the help of the church, I would be able to go home that night and have a regular family situation, too.”

Reflecting on his time at the sheriff’s office, Dean is filled with gratitude.

“I want to say a big thank you to the taxpayers of Lincoln County,” Dean said. “I feel like I was very well taken care of.”

Dean laments the cases that were never prosecuted – the victims that he could not help – but he also remembers the good he did, and the good he will continue at his new job.

Sitting in the courtroom last week, Dean watched the judge hand out a stiff sentence to the pedophile. Dean became cognizant of why he joined the sheriff’s office 20 years ago – and why he has now left it for the church.