[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] A former American female teacher who denied rape charges by claiming it was a 'relationship of love' despite sexually assaulting a student 22 years her junior has died at the age of 58. The cause of death is reported to be cancer.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 8th (local time), Mary Kay Letourneau, a former teacher, was known to have had sexual relations and even became pregnant with her 12-year-old student Billy Pualau while working as a teacher in Seattle in 1997. At the time, Letourneau was a married woman with four children, but both Letourneau and Pualau denied the rape charges, claiming they were in love.
Letourneau was convicted of child rape. At the time of sentencing, she was paroled after serving six months with a lifetime restraining order against Pualau, but she again had sexual relations with Pualau and gave birth to his second daughter in 1998 while incarcerated.
They also co-authored a book titled Only One Crime: Love.
After serving a full seven-year sentence, Letourneau was released in 2004 and married Pualau.
Although she had a restraining order against contacting Pualau at the time, she sued the government and married Pualau after he turned 21 and became an adult.
Letourneau described her relationship with Pualau as a 'forbidden love.'
In a 2018 documentary about herself, Letourneau said, "Is it wrong that Pualau is the father of my children and the man of my life? I don't think so."
They divorced last year, 12 years after their marriage.
Meanwhile, Letourneau's father is known to be John Schmitz, a Republican congressman who once ran in the presidential primary.
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