As I first read this question my immediate reaction was (like a lot of others, I see), “Yes, of course he should have been arrested.”
But… seeing so many other more or less quick and automatic “yes” answers made me question my own immediate response. (I tend to question a lot of my quick and automatic answers, and even sooner and stronger if I find myself in a majority.) By the time I had gotten to your explanation of the outcome later in the thread I was wondering, “What else could happen here?” So it was great to see the thought process that you used and the alternative ending you arrived at. (Interim ending, anyway. I’m sure this is a process, and not a fairy tale. There’s no fairy godmother here, right? The guy’s wife was obviously at her own limit, and her loss stressed the whole system… yada yada.)
Thanks for the story, and thanks for your demonstration of “alternative justice”. After all, arrests, trials and prisons, or even “community service” doesn’t do much to make either the victims or the offenders any better off, do they?
Any idea what happened with him (or with those kids) in the 20 years since?