Legal Fees to arrive at Alternative Dispute Resolution, instead of pressing charges.

I have been at the wrong end of a year and a half-ish long problem legally.

It's very difficult to talk about the nature of the events, but in essence, I have 2 options left to me. I can either engage a prosecutor from the police to bring the real story of what occurred to light, or I can engage a lawyer to enable an Alternative Dispute Resolution, and avoid placing people whom I once cared very deeply for in front of a court.

The nature of the charges would be life ruining for many people, but on the other hand, I have been left with a situation where I have been unable to express or explain what happened, and how I was victimized systematically.

The lawyer option isn't massively expensive, but it will cost quite a lot. I have a pension which I can utilize to help out, but I also need to get the initial costs sorted, and get things moving before key evidence is deleted from the court systems archives etc.

I'm doing my utmost best to handle this issue in a non-destructive manner, but the systems available seem to priorities punishments over truth. I don't care to ruin anyone's life, but I do need to address the people who ruined mine. And the only way to do that safely is via legal means.

I understand that this is very, generalized, but the nature of the legal matter necessitates this.