How did Mary Kay Letourneau’s affair lead to her imprisonment?
Mary Kay Letourneau is any politician’s nightmare, as her scandal is a career ruiner. Considering she’s from a family of politicians, it’s a miracle any Schmitz related to her still has a career in politics.
Most affairs end in divorce, but Letourneau’s affair landed her in jail thanks to the age of the man she cheated on her husband with. Did we mention Letourneau was an elementary school teacher? And her affair was with a 12 year old student she taught in 2nd and 6th grade?
Why did Mary Kay Letourneau date a 12 year old?
Who knows what drives people to do stupid stuff like this. Letourneau knew Vili Fualaau through her job at Shorewood Elementary, as the 34 year old at the time was his 2nd and 6th grade teacher. Their affair started just after he finished 6th grade.
The two got together in the summer of 1996, and were officially caught in the act on June 18th. Police found Letourneau and Fualaau in a car together in an empty parking lot. But when police called Fualaau’s mother, she said that Letourneau was to be trusted and let police release Fualaau to Letourneau’s supervision.
Finally arrested
Their affair continued until April of 1997, when a family member of Letourneau’s husband called police on her. While her trial went on that year, Letourneau gave birth to a child of Fualaau’s. She pleaded guilty to two counts of child rape, and was sentenced to 3 months in jail and 3 months of suspended sentences.
Also as part of her sentence, Letourneau was not allowed to see Fualaau, her five children, or any minor for that matter. She was also required to register as a sex offender for 3 years.
Breaking the law for love
After getting out of jail on her suspended sentence, police caught Letourneau in the car with Fualaau less than two weeks later. Since she broke the terms of her plea deal, Letourneau was resentenced to the maximum sentence under the state law, seven and a half years.
When she went back to prison, she ended up being pregnant with a second child from Fualaau who she gave birth to behind bars. Enduring her time within the prison, Letourneau and Fualaau wrote a book published in France recapping their love story that was eventually translated and released in the US.
A happy ending…?
When Fualaau was released from prison in 2004, Fualaau, now 21, fought with the courts to change the no contact order against him so the two could marry. Permission was granted, and the two wed in 2005 in a highly publicized ceremony. The two stayed together until 2019, when the couple filed for an amicable divorce after 14 years.
