The former schoolteacher who became notorious for sexually abusing one of her students and having his children in the 1990s has died.
Mary Kay Letourneau died of cancer at age 58, NBC News reported.
BREAKING: Mary Kay Letourneau, the former teacher who was convicted of 2nd-degree rape of a child after engaging in sexual relations with her then 12-year-old student, has died of cancer, her attorney says. https://t.co/iEfsYEQ6Kg pic.twitter.com/10JgqZxz9m
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 8, 2020
Ms. Letourneau pleaded guilty in 1997 to two counts of second-degree rape of a child over a liaison both she and the boy said at the time, and have maintained ever since, was “consensual.”
At the time the liaison started, Vili Fualaau was her sixth-grade student, and she was a married woman in her 30s with four children.
While awaiting sentencing, Ms. Letourneau gave birth to his child, a daughter.
According to a plea deal, Ms. Letourneau received a six-month sentence, though three months of it were suspended. She and Mr. Fualaau were barred from contact for life.
Shortly after serving her sentence though, police discovered Ms. Letourneau and Mr. Fualaau in a car together.
As a result, the plea agreement was revoked and she was sentenced to the 7 1/2-year maximum. Eight months after returning to prison, Ms. Letourneau gave birth to the teenager’s second daughter.
The pair were married in 2005 after her release from her second prison stint. The couple divorced in 2019, though both always maintained they had done nothing wrong.
Her attorney, David Gehrke, told Seattle TV station KOMO on Tuesday evening that his client had been ill for some time and Tuesday’s death was not unexpected.
“It was expected but sad anyway,” Mr. Gehrke said. “She was a good person.”
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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