Mary Kay Letourneau
A sixth-grade teacher whose criminal relationship with a 12-year-old student became a defining tabloid scandal of the 1990s.
1962–2020 (age 58)·American sex offender·Birthday: January 30·Baby Boomers
Biography
Mary Kay Letourneau's name became synonymous with a profound breach of trust and a media frenzy that blurred the lines between crime and tragic romance. A Seattle-area elementary school teacher from a respected family, she began a sexual relationship with her 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, in 1996. Her 1997 guilty plea to child rape charges landed her in prison, but the story only intensified when she gave birth to Fualaau's child while out on bail. The saga played out on tabloid covers and talk shows, dissecting her psychology and the family court's unusual decision to allow contact between her and Fualaau after her release. Defying all expectations, she married Fualaau in 2005 upon the termination of a court order prohibiting contact, a union that lasted until their separation in 2017. Her life remains a stark, complex case study in abuse of power, criminal pathology, and the long, messy aftermath of a national scandal.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Mary was born in 1962, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Mary Was Born
The biggest hits of 1962
#1 Movie
Lawrence of Arabia
Best Picture
Lawrence of Arabia
#1 TV Show
Beverly Hillbillies
Mary's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1962Born
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1967Started school
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1975Became a teenager
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1978Could drive
First test-tube baby born
Gas: $0.63/galHome: $35,300Min wage: $2.65/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Shadow Dancing" — Andy GibbBest Picture: The Deer Hunter
1980Could vote
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1983Turned 21
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1992Turned 30
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 40
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 50
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2020Died at 58
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
Key Achievements
- Pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree rape of a child in 1997 for her relationship with her 12-year-old student.
- Gave birth to two daughters fathered by her victim, Vili Fualaau, one while she was out on bail before her prison sentence.
- Married Fualaau in 2005 after her release from prison and the termination of a no-contact order.
- Her case was the subject of numerous television movies, documentaries, and relentless tabloid coverage throughout the late 1990s and 2000s.
Did You Know?
She gave birth to her first child with Fualaau while she was 35 years old and he was 14.
Her father, John G. Schmitz, was a conservative California state senator and U.S. Congressman.
She and Vili Fualaau legally separated in 2017 but never divorced before her death from cancer in 2020.
She earned a master's degree in education from Seattle University.
“I will always love Vili, and I will always be with him.”
