Mary Kay Letourneau

Mary Kay Letourneau
Letourneau smiling
Letourneau in an undated photograph during her teaching career
Born
Mary Katherine Schmitz

(1962-01-30)January 30, 1962
Tustin, California, U.S.
DiedJuly 6, 2020(2020-07-06) (aged 58)
Des Moines, Washington, U.S.
Other namesMary Kay Fualaau
Alma materSeattle University
Occupation(s)Teacher, paralegal
Spouses
  • Steve Letourneau
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1984; div. 1999)​
  • Vili Fualaau
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2005; sep. 2019)​
Children6
Parents
Relatives
Conviction(s)Second-degree rape of a child (2 counts)
Criminal penalty7+1⁄2 years in prison

Mary Katherine Fualaau[1] (previously Letourneau, née Schmitz; January 30, 1962 – July 6, 2020) was an American teacher who pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child and subsequently married her former student. The case received national attention.

Mary Schmitz met Steve Letourneau while attending Arizona State University; they married out of social pressure and had four children together over the years. Their marriage was unhappy. After achieving a teaching degree in 1989, Mary Letourneau started working at an elementary school in Burien, Washington. In September 1991, she first met Vili Fualaau, a second-grade pupil. Letourneau was admirative of Fualaau's artistic abilities and kept in touch while not being his teacher. Letourneau and Fualaau met again in the fall of 1995, in sixth grade class. In June 1996, Letourneau, aged 34, engaged in statutory rape with Fualaau, aged 12.[2][3] In September, she found out she was pregnant with Fualaau's child.

Mary Letourneau was arrested in March 1997, after a relative of her husband contacted the police. While awaiting sentencing, she gave birth to Fualaau's daughter. With the state seeking a seven and a half year prison sentence, she reached a plea bargain calling for six months in jail with three months suspended and no contact with Fualaau for life, among other terms. Shortly after Letourneau had completed three months in jail, the police caught her in a car with Fualaau. A judge revoked her plea agreement and reinstated the prison sentence for the maximum allowed by law of seven and a half years.[4] Eight months after returning to prison, she gave birth to Fualaau's second child, another daughter.[5]

Letourneau was imprisoned from 1998 to 2004, spending half a year in solitary confinement for her communication attempts with Fualaau. After her release, she and Fualaau successfully petitioned to the court to have their no-contact order lifted. Mary Letourneau and Vili Fualaau were married in May 2005. The marriage lasted 14 years, until their separation in 2019.[6][7][8] Letourneau died in 2020, aged 58, from colon cancer, leaving much of her estate to Fualaau.

  1. ^ "Certificate of Death" (PDF). TMZ. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference WDBJ_4/4/2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference People_7/8/2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Le Tourneau [sic] Case: Police check reports that teacher resumed sexual relations with boy". Kitsap Sun. Associated Press. February 8, 1998. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  5. ^ "Mary Kay Letourneau: Teenage father can't wait to see newborn daughter". Kitsap Sun. Associated Press. October 19, 1998. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  6. ^ Wilson, Kimberly A.C. (March 18, 1999). "Letourneau May Be Transferred to Out-of-State Prison". Local. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved May 11, 2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Letourneau Marries Fualaau Amid Media Circus". Local. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. May 21, 2005. Retrieved May 11, 2009.
  8. ^ "Mary Kay Letourneau's Separation from Vili Fualaau is Final, Says Source: 'Everything is Split Up'". Yahoo!. August 22, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2021.