Mary Kay Letourneau Weds "Child" Sweetheart

In the least surprising clandestine marriage of the young century, bipolar disorder's unconstructive but most notorious poster child Mary Kay Letourneau married Vili Fualaau on Friday evening, May 21, 2005. Vili, who is almost exactly half her age (he is 22; she is 43), is not only the father of her two youngest daughters - she has four older children who live with their father, Steve Letourneau, in Alaska - he is also the boy for whom Mary spent more than seven years in prison on a conviction of child rape. The full story has never been revealed; a TV-movie, All American Girl made about the case in 2000, suggested that Mary went off her meds because of side effects but made no further mention of the subject. Was she entirely unmonitored? Weren't there doctors examining her who could have seen that she was unmedicated? We don't know.

What we do know is that after the birth of their first child, Audrey, when she was given a suspended sentence and a work-release program, on the condition that she stay away from Vili (who was 12 when their affair began - she was 34) - almost immediately they were in each others arms again, and this time she served out her full sentence, giving birth to their second child Alexis in prison. The little girls were raised alongside Vili by his mother.

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the case is that in March 2002, Fualaau and his mother tried to sue the local school and school board for failing to protect him from Letourneau's "predatory behavior" - this in spite of the fact that the boy, described as physically precocious, had boasted to his friends that he could seduce his teacher if he wanted to, and he publicly sworn undying love for her after her arrest. They lost the lawsuit.

Then when she finally was released from her 7 1/2 year sentence, Mary Kay was banned from seeing Vili, but he petitioned the courts to lift this ban, since he was now legally an adult, and the court agreed. They publicly pledged their love and announced their intention to marry almost immediately.

Now, at the young age of 22, Vili has daughters who at 8 and 7 years old are only 4 and 5 years younger than he was when he began his affair with his schoolteacher. One can't help but wonder whether he will be a fit father for these children, given his bizarre history - nor can we know how well their mother will teach them about safety and protect them from harm's way.

The ceremony, according to AP Reports, was blanketed in tight security, so that not even the guests themselves knew where it would be held; they were sent at the last minute to meet buses that would carry them to the secluded site of the ceremony, a winery outside of Seattle.

We wish them and especially their children happiness, luck, stability, and the right medications cocktail for Mary.

Read More:

• Mary Kay: Criminal or Victim of Bipolar Disorder?
• Page 2 of the above.
• Mary Kay: The Questions Remain
• Mary Kay Released - August 4, 2004