Having read through this thread and noted the discussion on imprisoning this woman one thing occurs to me.

The one really good reason that I can see for putting this woman behind bars is that her children will be given a modicum of security that she's not out there looking for a way to get them back or to do them more harm.

Now, to a rational adult, that would probably not seem to be likely but, to a child who had to suffer through years of ill treatment and abuse, who can say what their fears are. The knowledge that Mommy Dearest CANNOT get at them has got to be worth whatever it costs to keep her there.

At the same time she will, hopefully, be dried out by the time she comes out and maybe have had some sort of treatment for her addiction and perversion.