Mary Kay Letourneau, Teacher Who Raped Student She Later Married, Has Died

Mary Kay Letourneau, who made national headlines in 1997 after being convicted of raping a 13-year-old student she would later marry, has died following a nine-month battle with cancer. She was 58.

Letourneau pleaded guilty to raping 13-year-old Vili Fualaau when she was a 34-year-old teacher in Seattle and spent seven years in jail. When Letourneau was released, she married Fualaau, and they raised two children together.

In 2017, just before they celebrated their 12th-anniversary, Fualaau filed for legal separation. Their divorce was finalized last year.

When Letourneau was diagnosed with cancer, Fualaau helped take care of her and was with her when she passed away.

"Evidence by him coming back up here and being with her and by her side almost non stop for the last couple of months, they still obviously loved each other, and she would've done the same for him if he was the one who had cancer," Letourneau's former attorney David Gehrke told KCPQ.

Gehrke said that Letourneau had trouble accepting that her actions were against the law, and vowed to raise a family with Fualaau.

"I looked at her and said, 'Remember that first Sunday when you came by, and you just said you wanted to marry Villi and have one big happy family?' That's what you've got. And she looked at me and gave me this smile I'd seen before on her because she was always confident she'd get what she wanted, and she gave me a smile and said, 'Yeah, I told you I would get that," said Gehrke.

Photo: KCPQ-TV


Sponsored Content

Sponsored Content