Shivangi Sinha
The case of Mary Kay Letourneau or Mary Katherine Schmitz became a sensation as soon as it hit the news. The story of a 36-year-old woman who was sexually abusing her student, Vili Fualaau, who was just 12-years-old and in the sixth grade, was one of the most unpleasant cases anyone had heard of. Things turned even more bizarre when Letourneau had two kids with Fualaau before he turned 15. Netflix’s ‘May December’ is loosely inspired by Mary’s life and shows a probable world that the “couple” inhabited after she was released from prison and married Fualaau.
It is important to note that Letourneau was the mother of four children at the time when the events of the case transpired and had the early childhood of her two daughters with Fualaau passed while she was still in prison. Such impactful occurrences would have affected these kids, so let us see where they are today.
Mary Kay Letourneau’s Children Have Set Out on Different Paths
In 1996, when Mary Kay Letourneau initiated a sexual relationship with Vili Fualaau, she was residing with her husband, Steve Letourneau, and the couple had four children: Steve Jr., Mary Claire, Nicholas, and Jacqueline. Steve Jr. was a year junior to Fualaau and they went to the same school together. The family found themselves thrust into the midst of a media-fueled scandal that not only jeopardized the marriage of their parents but also exposed the children to intense public scrutiny. Shortly thereafter, Steve Letourneau filed for divorce and successfully obtained full custody of their kids. He moved with the kids from Seattle to Alaska.
The aftermath of the divorce resulted in limited contact between the children and their mother, leading to a gradual deterioration of their relationship. Remarkably, Steve and the children opted to maintain a low profile, refraining from publicly sharing the details of their experiences during this period. In 2017, when Steve was asked to comment on Letourneau, he said, “I’ve moved on and I have nothing to say.” A source close to Steve said, “He’s gotten on with his life and everything is positive. He is a wonderful man and father. None of the kids have turned out bad and he did it all on his own. Steven is a wonderful, hardworking man. He’s always provided and cared for his family.”
In a 2005 interview, the children’s stepfather, Fualaau, said that it was “awkward” to be the same age as someone who was supposed to be his stepchildren but things were settling down. Over time, there have been reports indicating an improvement in the relationship between Letourneau and her children with Steve, although the specifics of this transformation remain unclear. In the same 2005 interview, Letourneau expressed surprise and emotional joy, stating, “If I had known a year ago how all of them are together in my life now, I would have cried.”
The positive shift was evident in familial events, such as her daughter Mary Claire serving as the Maid of Honour at Letourneau’s 2005 wedding to Fualaau. Steve Jr. also spent a brief period living with the couple, and even Jacqueline and Nicholas began visiting their mother regularly. After their mother passed away in 2020, there was no official statement from any of the children or Steve but given the reports, it would have affected them deeply. Georgia and Audrey, the daughters of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, were raised by their maternal grandmother, Vili Soona, who served as their legal guardian during their mother’s imprisonment and their father’s status as a non-adult.
Despite the extraordinary circumstances surrounding their family, Georgia and Audrey have found themselves in relatively more limelight. In a 2018 interview with a news channel, the sisters shared their perspective on the unconventional upbringing they experienced. They explained that while the world might perceive their life as bizarre, growing up in that environment made it quite normal for them. They expressed a sense of adaptation to the unique circumstances that shaped their childhood and said that their father was like a “friend-dad” and they loved their parents very much. In September 2023, Georgia, now 24, joyfully announced that she was expecting her first child, a baby boy.
While she kept details about her partner, a delivery driver and aspiring boxer, relatively private, it was revealed that they had been together for over six years, and he had even spent time at her mother’s house. Georgia, who maintains a close relationship with her 26-year-old sister Audrey, received an enthusiastic post from Audrey upon sharing the news, expressing excitement about becoming an aunt. Georgia, drawing inspiration from her mother, expressed confidence in her ability to be a great mother, acknowledging her mother’s strictness as ultimately in their best interest. She shared that her late mother would have been thrilled about becoming a grandmother. The two sisters, who previously conveyed a heartfelt message to their father, expressed profound sadness at the passing of their mother due to colon cancer in 2020.
Read More: May December: Is the Movie Based on Mary Kay Letourneau’s Life?
