Mary Kay Letourneau: The Romance That was a Crime

In the years since their marriage, Mary Kay and Vili Fualaau have not hidden their lights under a bushel. In 2009, they cashed in on their notoriety by participating in "Hot for Teacher" evenings at a Seattle bar called the Fuel Sports Eats & Beats. Mary Kay acted as hostess, greeting people as they entered the bar, while Vili disc jockeyed under the moniker "DJ Headline."

An article in The Seattle Times reported that bar owner Mike Morris said, "Letourneau has served her sentence, she's married her former student, and it's OK for them to have some fun on a Saturday night." A NY Issues piece let Morris expand his defense of these events. "It's turned into a sort of love story," he asserted. "I realize it had a sick twist at the beginning, but they're both adults now. They're both married by the state of Washington. So it's just go and have fun on a Saturday night — and if people are looking to have some fun, just come check us out."

After that event, the couple appeared at similar events cashing in on their reputations. At a Seattle bar called Dante's, Vili worked as DJ Headline and Mary Kay danced. She was attired as Max from Maurice Sendak's classic children's story Where the Wild Things Are. Dressed in the furry white wolf costume, sporting a lei around her neck and sometimes a paper crown on her head, Mary Kay posed with Dante's customers. Perhaps Dante's manager or Mary Kay herself thought allusion to the fantasies of a child fitting for the adult who gained infamy for illegal sex with a child.

"DJ Headline" has a Myspace website. It discloses that he specializes in club, hip-hop and rhythm and blues music. The website boasts advertisements for "Hot for Teacher" nights and other events at which he and Mary Kay appear. The couple has based an odd career on the crimes that catapulted Mary Kay to infamy.

However, that is not Mary Kay's only employment. She also works as a paralegal.

Both of their daughters, Audrey Lokelani and Georgia, live with them. Mary Kay's attorney, David Gehrke, sees the family regularly in the community as the Fualaau home is about halfway between his own home and his law office. "Their daughters are strikingly beautiful, happy, artistic, talented, musical and doing well in school," Gehrke relates.

Does Gehrke believe Mary Kay and Vili are happily married? "Absolutely," he replies. "They're coming up to six years of marriage. I think if they weren't happily married, they would have said, 'screw it,' and gotten divorced. They seem happy together."