Mary Kay Letourneau’s Ex-Student Reflects on Vili Fualaau Scandal.
Caitlin Steed, a former student of Mary Kay Letourneau, has shared her thoughts on the emotional toll caused by the teacher’s infamous sex scandal with Vili Fualaau. Steed, who was just 12 years old when the affair came to light in the late ’90s, spoke about the long-lasting effects the scandal had on her and her classmates.
In an interview with The New York Post published on January 24, Steed recalled the confusion she felt when the news broke. “It f–ked me up for a long time,” she said, describing how hard it was to process the scandal. At the time, Letourneau, 34, was a nurturing figure who was like a mother to her students, which made the affair all the more shocking. “She was so nurturing,” Steed explained. “And then we had to process all of this really when we’re just learning what sex is all about.”
The affair between Letourneau and Fualaau, who was 12 at the time, stunned the nation when it was revealed. Steed shared how the scandal affected the students who looked up to Letourneau. “We were sad,” Steed said, explaining that it was difficult for young children to make sense of what had happened. “No one should have to deal with this.”
In 1997, Letourneau was arrested and pleaded guilty to two counts of felony second-degree rape of a child. She served just three months in jail. At the time, Letourneau was married to Steve Letourneau, with whom she had four children. The couple divorced in 1999 after Letourneau gave birth to her first child with Fualaau, Audrey, in May 1997.
Letourneau continued her relationship with Fualaau after her jail sentence, leading to the reinstatement of her original seven-and-a-half-year sentence. In 1998, while incarcerated, Letourneau gave birth to their second daughter, Georgia. She was released from prison in 2004.
Letourneau and Fualaau married in 2005, but their relationship eventually ended in 2017, when Fualaau filed for separation. The divorce was finalised in 2019. Letourneau passed away from cancer
On July 7, 2020, Letourneau passed away from cancer at the age of 58. A joint statement from the families of both Letourneau and Fualaau, released via X (formerly Twitter), expressed their "deep sadness" over her death, with the families noting they had done their “very best to care” for her.
Fualaau’s friend spoke to People about the emotional toll of Letourneau’s passing, saying, “He lost a piece of himself. He understands how f–ked up everything was in how they got together. He’s not stupid. But he can’t turn off his feelings completely, and it’s a big loss for him. He talked to her right before she passed, and they said everything they needed to say.”
The friend added, “They didn’t speak every day, but she would update him on her cancer treatment. At the beginning, the talk was that she was going to beat it, that even though the prognosis wasn’t good, she’d fight with everything she had, and that she had a shot at surviving it.”
Fualaau later welcomed his third daughter, Sophia, in 2022.
