Dear Prudence,
My husband had an affair with a crazy woman. When he left her she began harassing me with mean emails, phone calls, etc. Eventually this escalated into vandalism. She keyed my car and broke some of my garden statues. Once I caught her in the act, and in her attempt to get away she hit me in the face and the back of my head with a large rock. Thankfully, I wasn’t badly hurt. I called the police and she was arrested. If convicted she could face several months to several years in prison; this isn't her first brush with the law. The issue is she has two elementary-school-age children. If she goes to jail there is no one who can or is willing to take them in. There's a possibility they could end up in foster care. For that reason, my mother and some friends (though not my husband) have been pressuring me not to press charges. I feel for these kids. I am a mother myself. But it makes me sick to think this awful person might walk away from her crimes without punishment. What should I do?