Did Mary Kay Letourneau Really Regret Her Relationship With Villi Fualaau?

The world watched in horror when it was revealed that Mary Kay Letourneau, a sixth-grade teacher, had been sexually abusing her 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. The abuse began in 1996 and Letourneau was sentenced to seven years in prison for her crimes, even becoming pregnant twice by Fualaau before his 15th birthday.

Letourneau was married at the time and had four children with her former husband. She was subject to a restraining order keeping her away from Fualaau that was still in place after she left prison, which was later removed (via People). She and Fualaau went on to get married in 2005, as Letourneau was an adult by the time her prison sentence was completed. Letourneau and Fualaau raised their two children together, before splitting in 2017.

Letourneau and Fualaau have spoken about their relationship multiple times before, with the former even claiming in 2018 that she did not know her relationship with the underage boy was a criminal offense. "I've said this over and over again. Had I known, if anyone knows my personality. Just the idea, this would count as a crime," she said on the Australian news show "Sunday Night" in 2018 (via News.com.au). "If someone had told me, if anyone had told me, there is a specific law that says this is a crime."

Letourneau died of cancer in 2020, but now more about how she really felt about her relationship with Fualaau in the weeks before her death is coming to light.

A source has spoken out to People about how Mary Kay Letourneau apparently felt about her relationship with her former student, Vili Fualaau, in her final days, claiming that she felt "deep remorse" about how their relationship began and had reflected on it a lot leading up to her 2020 death.

The unidentified insider, thought to be a close friend of the late former teacher, claimed to have got a letter from the registered sex offender about a month and a half before her death. They said Letourneau "was trying to make her peace, not only with everyone else, but with herself."

Despite her previous claims that she was unaware her actions were serious criminal offenses when Fualaau was just 12 years old, the source claimed the former teacher "understood on a very deep level that she had really made a mess of her life and the lives of many other people." They added that "she realized that even though things turned out relatively good, that she was responsible for a wide swath of destruction by her actions."

The insider also claimed Letourneau had become more aware of how wrong what she did was as the years went on, with Letourneau also reportedly "[apologizing] to a lot of people for a lot of things" before she died.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).