Court TV Host: We're going to be joined today by Mary Kay Letourneau, the Seattle schoolteacher, who is now serving a seven and a half year sentence for having a sexual relationship with a student of hers. She also had two children with him. Her case attracted headlines around the nation and around the world. She spoke to Court TV for a documentary that we aired last night, called Mary Kay Letourneau: Forbidden Desire. And she's going to talk to us in just a few minutes in an exclusive live online interview. In addition to reading documents and background on our website, you might want to visit the site started for Ms. Letourneau's supporters at www.marykayletourneau.com.

Court TV Host: Mary Kay Letourneau is now with us...Welcome.

Mary Kay Letourneau: Hello, and thank you for sharing this time with me.

italian_stallion26_99: What's it like in prison?

Mary Kay Letourneau: A little bit is like what the general public would expect— the tall fences, the razor wire, many officers— and, as many people might expect, just like on the outside, there are certain individuals that have positions of control that take advantage of that, and then there are very ethical and very compassionate ones—so in that sense, it's not so different. For example the food is what people would expect: very over-processed. You have mass numbers to feed, and you can imagine what they provide. Their budget is small, about $1.25 per day, so I've heard—I don't have that in writing but that's what I've heard from the staff here.

IBCin: When was the last time Mary Kay saw any of her children?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I see my two youngest children regularly, because they're close—here in Seattle—so I see them at least every two weeks—my Fualaau children. They come in for regular visiting, and they also come in for special other child programs that are offered here. My oldest children I see approximately four times a year. It was arranged that they would come quarterly. And that's been working out for the past year.

kstrawter: How did you manage to fall in love with a child?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I think it's more appropriate to say a teenager. How did he manage falling in love with me? How did I manage falling in love with him? You know it's not as simple as to say "it just happened." But we both did find ourselves in love. And it was a mutual love. Love is something that evolves. And it was very intense, too. I don't really think that falling in love can be explained.

kmanula: What were you feeling about life when you began to feel attracted to Vili?

Mary Kay Letourneau: That's something I haven't really thought about...Well, I think many people have theorized or speculated that I must have been very lonely at the time. But I wasn't. At the time I considered myself a very independent person, and very confident. I was, at the time, looking to my future, knowing I was going to get a divorce, and was actually looking forward to being happy alone in life with my children. In other words I don't have the type of personality that is dependent on having a man in my life, or a partner. I feel very fulfilled just with myself, my family, my friends, my children.

a_gilley: How soon will you be released?

bobbiejack1953: How much more prison time do you have?

dnickelson: Mary, how long will you be in prison?

Mary Kay Letourneau: Well, I'm scheduled in the computer to be released in July 2004, and I'm anticipating April or March, because three of those months will be returned to me—there was an error, so we'll see. I do have an appeal in that may shorten my sentence, although when an appeal is in the higher courts it often takes two years to finish its course before you get an answer. If I do get an early release, it would be maybe six months earlier than I expect. Six months is a long time in a child's life, and I have six children that would definitely benefit from it, so even if it's six months earlier, it would be worth it.

a_gilley: Do you think you and Vili will be together once you are released?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I do expect that, but I'm also realistic in that I have two and a half long years left here. I know in some form, of course, we'll be together because we have two children. I also imagine that we will both need some kind of counseling to help sort out what has happened over these years. Having a no-contact order, we're both getting mixed messages from the media, from outside sources, and it's been very difficult. I know the strength of our relationship, I know the core strength of it is still there. I have no doubt. I know it is within me, and I know his strength, but I still think that we'll need some assistance, We're going to need to still lift the no-contact order, and that's not something that's just going to happen on my release. As people have seen, it's not set up in the courts that when he turns 18, it's lifted. We have to go into the courts and have it lifted, and at that point we can start working out our future. I'm expecting to be together with him, and I believe that he is expecting to be with me. I just believe that there has been a lot of hurt having that forced separation. And we're going to need to sort all that out and put it in some perspective and be able to move on in a healthy way for us, independently, and for our children

marandas_studio: Do you feel that the law will keep you apart even when you're out of prison, and he is of age?

Mary Kay Letourneau: Right now, because the lawsuit is proceeding, I'm sure he has attorneys that are not supporting his decision to lift the no-contact order right now because that would not benefit his civil case. In other words, they are trying to win in the civil case, and for him to get another attorney at this point to represent him in lifting the no-contact order and working towards our relationship, getting married or whatever it is we decide—it's not going to happen while the lawsuit is going on. He will have to go to a separate attorney to represent his interests. And at this time, it doesn't really matter what the law's position is. I'm sure that the prosecution would like to keep us separated just to prove, just to keep strong their stand of why they separated us initially.

Mary Kay Letourneau: If anyone wants to look at the way that the state of Washington has handled this before there was a case last year. The man's name was Mark Blilie. He was a Kirkland teacher here in the state of Washington. He was prosecuted and charged with essentially the same thing I was charged with. He was 30, and she was 14. He served his time, approximately 3 and a half years or so. He was released from prison. They resumed their relationship. The no-contact order had not been lifted yet. He went back to jail to serve a 90 day no-contact violation charge. In the meantime, she got an attorney. She was 19 then. She went into court with her attorney. She had a psychological evaluation that showed she was making this choice on her own. She presented her case to the local judge here in King county. Her parents were opposed to it, the prosecution was opposed to it, but the judge said, "Young lady, you are free to make whatever decision you want." They are now happily married. He got out after his three months. They're happy, I heard that just about two weeks ago. They somehow survived the prison term, lifted the no-contact order even with the opposition of the prosecution and her family. I'm very happy for them and it's also very encouraging for Vili and my position.

Mary Kay Letourneau: I do have a concern that Vili does not have the support to get to the right attorney that will help me in this matter. I believe that the attorneys that are out there giving him advice are more concerned about where the financial benefit is in this case, rather than what's in his best interest. I believe that's been the most upsetting in this case from the beginning. Certain people that have gotten involved have seen the money side of this, related to the media. Their personal agendas have taken over rather than the best interests of my six children and Vili's and my relationship. More importantly, in the big picture—i don't know how to say this—but the record now has many errors in it because of the influence of people who have gotten into this for personal motives. We have to go way back to the beginning and correct initial errors. The bottom line is that the parties involved were more interested in the financial benefit in this case rather than representing an ethical legal system with disregard for the individuals involved.

www_prowrestlingdaily_com: Mary, do you think that your father's past actions influenced your actions?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I would be very proud to say that my father's life has influenced my life. My father had profound wisdom and possession of knowledge. He is an inspiration to me. I think that the person asking the question wants to know if my father's affair has influenced me, and my answer is absolutely not. I'm very proud of the life that my father led. I'm proud of his leadership, and I miss him.

glenda42355: Do you have contact with the four other children?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I do. I speak to them regularly on the phone and they visit once a quarter, about every three months. But we do speak regularly on the phone and in writing.

denamclloyd: Mary, is Vili getting any counseling now to help him deal with being a single parent and the rather unusual circumstance he is dealing with?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I believe that the only contact he has right now with someone in the field of mental health is in relation to the lawsuit right now. Unfortunately, the lawsuit would like to show that he was harmed such that the school district should pay. In other words, they are not interested in assisting him with the circumstances of his life right now. They are interested in showing the difficulty, rather than working with him. That of course is very upsetting to me. I don't believe that from the beginning he has had the resources to support him in all the areas of his life. He is a single father. He also has career goals. He also would like to be with me, and I don't think he has had a support system assisting him. I think he was left alone to fail rather than bringing in support to help him fix things.

jeanne55682000: Mary, how do the other inmates relate to you?

thatsright08826: Are the other inmates supportive of you?

chetty114223: Are the prisoners nice to you?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I do get along, I believe, with everybody here. Particularly in the area that I am housed in, because that's where we get to know each other. There may be some women here who have a bias because they don't know me. Just like people on the outside. If they're just seeing things on the news, they're as likely to be biased as people on the outside. I have not met anybody here who has a bias against me. I enjoy getting to know the women here. I enjoy working at the school here to help them get their GEDs.

Mary Kay Letourneau: I just want people to also know that there are also some very scary people here. There are people here for very good reason because they have violent natures. I try to be stern and do everything to protect myself from getting involved in a situation that may hurt me. But most of the people here are not violent, though there is a certain percentage who are violent here. People who have certain disorders who make it so they don't have the capacity to empathize in a healthy society. More self-driven and reactive. I don't want to say that it's all attributed to abuse in their past life. I try to understand them, to reach out and give compassion to those women. But I also need to keep in mind that I need to protect myself as well. It's a hard balance.

kmanula: What was your father's reaction he found out about the relationship?

Mary Kay Letourneau: My father was concerned about my safety regarding my husband's reaction. It would have been the same concern for me had Vili been any age. It wasn't because it was a teenager, although that is a factor there. I'm sure that my husband was hurt by the fact that it was a younger person. My father mentioned something like that, being upstaged by a 14-year-old not being good for the male ego. He had concern, but he would have had concerns for my safety had it been a 60-year-old, if it had been a 25-year-old. Really, my father wanted me to know that he was there for me. I think he was happy to be alive to help through the hard part of this.

Yours_Darlin: I would like to know if Ms. Letourneau's son was involved with an adult woman when he was 12 would she approve?

jolly16us: Mary Kay, how would you feel if your 12-year-old son had a child with a teacher?

Mary Kay Letourneau: If there was a situation where my son was involved in a relationship, no matter if it was a same-age relationship or an older relationship, I would not be reactive. I would definitely listen to my son. I would listen to the other person involved. I would consider all of the circumstances and be there as a resource to help deal with the situation. I would definitely not be reactive. If I sensed some sort of abuse, I would take the necessary actions. I'm not saying that I would not have emotions as a mother. I think that any time our children move into adolescence and teenage years, they start to naturally move into relationships that carry them into their adult life. It's a grieving period for parents to get through that time period. I'm not saying I wouldn't be emotional. I would look for abuse, but if there wasn't any, I would make sure I was there for them as a resource to help keep the relationship healthy.

dfgmag: Do you think the age of sexual consent laws should be changed?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I don't think that there should be an automatic assumption of child abuse. I like the fact that our laws have a general protection there, but I do believe that each case has to be looked at separately. That goes back to not assuming because of a young teenage year that child abuse happened. The research shows that shouldn't be assumed. Globally, the research shows that it's not always child abuse. So you can't have a strict law on the age of consent. I definitely believe that to attach a felony conviction is way out of proportion, particularly when the individual circumstances of the case are not considered.

brennyh2001: Mary, do you feel you have received enough support?

Mary Kay Letourneau: This is a good question. The one area I do not have enough support is legal representation. In one sense, I'm very fortunate that I have an attorney in Boston who has given me an incredible amount of moral support. She's helped me with some prison issues and helped me balance the load because I'm handling my cases. I do need a local attorney, and I'm going to need some funds to bring on that attorney. I don't have the funds right now. I'm a little scared about not having representation for the appeal right now. It does scare me. It saddens me because my case has merit. I've done all the research and I know from attorneys in general that what happened in my case, the constitutional errors, need to be brought before the court. Not just for me, but because no record should let stand what happened in my case. It needs to be fixed. That's why we have the higher court. If anyone is interested in helping, they can look on my web site for how to help. www.marykayletourneau.com

jmk28s: Who runs the Web site? What kind of contact do they have with you?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I have regular contact with Jim Sturgeon. I have weekly contact with him, sometimes more often, depending on what's going on in my case at the time. I'm very fortunate to have him running the Web site. He designed it. It's my Web site, but it's also his. I had my father look at the Web site before I got involved. I got the endorsement from my father. I knew that if there was anything bad there, he would have alerted me. He thought it was very well put-together and also, from a politician's point of view, he said he wished he had had something like that when he was in office. Jim Sturgeon is a very sincere man, very objective. Even though it is my web site, I don't consider it to lean too much on my side. I think he's a very objective and very honest man.

acushla5: If you had it to do all over again, would you do it again?

Beebsie: If you could turn back the clock, would you do things differently?

Court TV Host: Lots of people are asking whether you have any regrets?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I feel blessed to have been with Vili for a while. Of course I believe that my children from him are a blessing, so I would never turn back the clock to take them away. I would turn back the clock to be a little more careful about my legal representation. I didn't know anything about the field of law. I trusted the system too much. I didn't believe it was capable of the type of corruption, or deception is a better word. Let me also say that I wish I had known it was a felony for me to get involved with Vili Fualaau and that the liability would fall on me. I believe that if I had been informed properly before we got to the point in our relationship where there was no turning back, I might have been able to be stronger and say no. By the time that I found out that there was a very serious legal, criminal side to our relationship, I was already pregnant. At that point you can't turn back the clock. Anyway, I would never regret my relationship with Vili Fualaau. I wish for everybody in life that they would be blessed with such a mutually loving and respectful relationship.

cneeesone: What are your plans for the future?

Mary Kay Letourneau: While I'm here I plan to look for opportunities to help the other girls here, whether it be spiritually or in the teaching area. I also plan while I'm here to continue to build my relationship with my children from here and give them as much security as possible and start setting up my life with them when I get out. I love Vili deeply, and I believe Vili loves me. I hope we have the support system that will be necessary to help us through the hard times of forced separation. I plan to work as a paralegal when I get out, now that I'm very good with legal research. I enjoy it. But I don't enjoy the litigation side of law. Because of my experience here, I'm particularly interested in and I hope to be able to help incarcerated mothers with the law.

Court TV Host: Mary Kay Letourneau, thank you for joining us online today. Any closing thoughts?

Mary Kay Letourneau: I just want to thank everybody for listening and for asking good questions, and I hope that I have an opportunity to talk again. There's probably more questions, I know, and maybe I didn't answer the questions as thoroughly as I wish I had time for. I think that's it. I just want to thank people for the support that they have given me. It's very much helped. It's very hard to be here, away from my children. And I hope that I will be able to get some legal help for my case right now.