If Loving You is Wrong

by Gregg Olsen

"Wonderfully researched...Searing and brilliant...A must-read!"-- Ann Rule, the undisputed queen of True Crime

The first case -- the one that launched an epidemic of teacher/student abuse cases -- written by New York Times bestselling author, Gregg Olsen.

You know how the story ended...but do you know how it all started?

Within hours of giving birth to her sixth child, Mary Kay Letourneau had her baby daughter whisked from her arms. She was then shackled and returned to her jail cell. Just years ago, the pretty, personable Seattle schoolteacher was living a life many would envy-- she had a handsome husband, four beautiful children, and a beloved following of students. Then she was accused of child rape, and her whole world turned upside down.

Rapist Or Victim?

How did a 34-year-old married teacher fall in love with one of her sixth-grade students? Was it a complete lapse of judgment, or-- as she contends-- the meeting of two soulmates? Were the two planning to run away together-- before police caught them in a parked car? Did the couple have illicit sex in every room of the Letourneau house, as the teenager told the tabloids? Read about the case that shocked the world and rocked the headlines-- about the lonely life of Mary Kay Letourneau and the young object of her obsession, the boy who fathered two of her children. You may think you know the story of Mary Kay Letourneau-- but you don't know the whole story until you've read...If Loving You Is Wrong.

Includes interviews with Mary Kay Letourneau.

Amazon.com Review: The tale seems ripe for tabloid exploitation: the fresh-faced blond elementary schoolteacher and mother of four just couldn't keep her hands off that 13-year-old boy. Worse yet, Mary Kay Letourneau had become obsessed with the slight, Samoan teenager while he was still a student in her sixth-grade class--and he fathered two babies with her. Yet in the hands of true crime writer Gregg Olsen, If Loving You Is Wrong becomes a poignant profile of an emotionally stunted young woman tightly wound up in a web of lies too fragile to sustain the weight of her own compulsions.

The facade the Letourneaus presented to the world was that of a devoted, upwardly mobile young couple. In reality Steve and Mary Kay were on the verge of financial and emotional bankruptcy. They married because she'd become pregnant and appearances were everything to Mary Kay's parents, ultra-conservative, family-values-promoting politician John Schmitz and his icy wife, Mary. Olsen, whose previous books include Abandoned Prayers and Black Widow, does a superior job with the story, interviewing Letourneau herself as well as friends and neighbors, researching and assembling the facts behind the lurid headlines in a nonjudgmental manner that allows readers to draw their own conclusions about the bigger issues at stake. Was Mary Kay Letourneau a pedophile, a child rapist, a female Humbert Humbert? Or was she, as she claims, a woman who'd found a soul mate and a true love that defied America's puritanical norms? Read If Loving You Is Wrong and decide for yourself. -- Patrizia DiLucchio
Review

About the Author
Gregg Olsen is the acclaimed author of true crime books and novels, including: Abandoned Prayers, Black Widow, Bitter Almonds, Mockingbird (AKA Cruel Deception), A Twisted Faith and Starvation Heights. His novels include, Heart of Ice, A Wicked Snow, Closer Than Blood, A Cold Dark Place, Victim Six and the upcoming Fear Collector. He is also the author of the Empty Coffin series for young adults. The first two titles of the series: Envy and Betrayal.

The Tucson Citizen called Olsen "One of America's favorite crime writers."

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Biography, True Story, Audiobook, Biography Memoir

396 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Throughout his career, Gregg Olsen has demonstrated an ability to create a detailed narrative that offers readers fascinating insights into the lives of people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Olsen has written ten nonfiction books, ten novels, and contributed a short story to a collection edited by Lee Child.

The award-winning author has been a guest on dozens of national and local television shows, including educational programs for the History Channel, Learning Channel, and Discovery Channel. He has also appeared on Good Morning America, The Early Show, The Today Show, FOX News; CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, MSNBC, Entertainment Tonight, CBS 48 Hours, Oxygen’s Snapped, Court TV’s Crier Live, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, and A&E’s Biography.

In addition to television and radio appearances, the award-winning author has been featured in Redbook, USA Today, People, Salon magazine, Seattle Times, Los Angeles Times and the New York Post.

The Deep Dark was named Idaho Book of the Year by the ILA and Starvation Heights was honored by Washington’s Secretary of State for the book’s contribution to Washington state history and culture.

Olsen, a Seattle native, lives in Olalla, Washington with his wife and Suri (a mini dachshund so spoiled she wears a sweater).

Reviews

[S. Wideman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sad to say, I'm always disappointed in Gregg Olsen's writing with True Crime. This is not the first book of his I've read, just the first I've refused to finish. I made it about 80% through before I put it down and deleted it. Not only was it full of editorial errors, but his jumps POV between one paragraph and the next. It's rather jarring to be reading the story from Character X's POV and the next paragraph is in Character Z's. As I said, I stopped reading it. Why? Because I felt like he was way too soft on the crimanal. Mary Kay Letourneau is a sick woman. Very sick in the head. She slept with and carried on a relationship with a boy about the same age of her son (it was hard to tell how old the kid was as his age changed several times, sometimes in the same chapter). I just felt that the author also fell into the trap of, "It's romantic" with how many times he skipped over anyone who said differently. In all other True Crime books I've read, the authors have made it a point to let the audience know through their writing that they do not agree with the person they are writing about, but I never got that feeling with this book. It was full of "Poor Mary Kay" and people sighing over how romantic the relationship was. Frankly, I got sick.

[Mary Carrasco · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a fascinating story, the writing was hard to follow. This book could have been far more organized and I found it to be extremely repetitive. 2.5 stars rounded up.

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating story if only because it forces you to question some of our social norms.

For example, is this the story of true love or of selfish perversion? Does the fact that the couple eventually married, raising their two daughters together, make a difference to how you answer that question?

Olsen does a good job of giving us the details, though at times the narrative gets repetitive and wordy. That said, I'm not sure there's another book out there on the topic that competently examines this bizarre story.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

As with the last one of his I read it's chock full of errors.........such a disappointment. I had a few more by this author in my wishlist but no more. It makes the reading painful yet the story itself was fascinating. I wonder if this one had an alternative editor, though, as they're different types of mistakes.
At the start it stated the protagonist was 32 years old in 1996 but she was born in 1962. Do the maths. A couple of lines I read made no sense whatsoever however many times I re-read them and spoke them aloud. One daughter's name changed from Terry to Terri as we progressed, extraordinaire was spelt wrong twice, he replaced the, woman became womaa, the word stmck was used and I had no idea what it was supposed to replace, Letourneau was spelt wrong a couple of times, tme was in place of true, apostrophe errors abounded too.
This Kindle version was released in 2012 yet the last update on this story was 2004 which was a pity.
It tells us about a teacher who had 2 children with her young student lover who was 11 or 12 or 13 depending which part of the story you believe.She had already been prosecuted once when she was pregnant the first time and was never supposed to have contact with the boy but she did and fell pregnant again !! From what I read here she really didn't seem to be "all there" if you ask me.
Heading over to Google now to find our what happened next.

[Draven · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a crime.

Apart from the fact that it over-sympathizes the situation of Mary Kay Letourneau and glorifies the fact that this pathological narcissist deluded herself and so many others into thinking this was a love story and not the absolute crime of a teacher and mother of four taking advantage of an at risk youth of twelve for the sake of her own aggrandized ego, or that she was enabled by an alarming amount of people the entire time, this book was poorly written and compiled. It is often out of sequence and thus often off topic, jumping back and forth like a lost train of thought in an endless conversation.

Everything about this real life story and this book was irresponsible, reprehensible and revolting!

[Jennie Colvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very sad story about a woman who was looking for someone to love her!!! The victims here are the children of Mary Kay!!!!

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This woman is sick and this book makes it sound like the relationship was a love story. Of the tables were turned and it was a male teacher having a sexual relationship with his student we would want him strung up and castrated. What a double standard!

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Gregg Olsen's YA fiction novels and so when this showed up as a Kindle deal and I found out the subject matter I thought I would try it. I have read true crime novels in the past to mixed results. However I remember vividly watching the Mary Kay Letourneau drama play out in the media as it happened. I was fascinated by the story then but still found the subject matter disgusting. A 13 year old child, really? Now I am the mother of a 13 year old son and I will tell you that I would hurt a woman who preyed on my child like this. I certainly wouldn't encourage it as I feel that Vili's mother did, at least according to this book. She certainly ate up every single opportunity to make money off of this scandal. I wanted some insight into knowing what the heck was wrong with a woman who could 'fall in love' with a little boy...a boy that she taught when he was a little second grade student. I didn't find that. In fact I found far too much empathy for this woman. Maybe she is/was mentally ill but that is no excuse. Her seven years of jail time was too light in my opinion. What does fascinate me though is that as of this review, Mary Kay and Vili are still married. I would never have imagined such a thing. Maybe there is love there but it doesn't justify in any way the fact that this woman preyed on a child. The first part of the story was compelling but then instead of trying to expose what was wrong with Mary Kay and how this crime could have happened it fell into a drawn out story about all the people who used her infamy as a way to gain their own five minutes of fame or to make money off of her. The last half of the story was dull and I am surprised I was able to finish it. Still a fan of the author but I really think he found his 'groove' in writing fiction instead.

[♥ Marlene♥]

Picked this book last night and began to read not knowing what that was about. As always I did not read the prologue because I do not want to know beforehand everything and in lot of prologues authors tell you all. (in most cases who was killed and who did it, so ridiculous)
Anyway it did not matter because the author is continually telling you what is going to happen, to whom and giving his opinion.

That plus terrible writing I have decided I am not going to read this any more.

Sad because his first true crime books were great. Checking my shelves I see I have 7 books written by him. Some were great.
Books like: Cruel Deception (my first by him and my favourite) Abandoned Prayers, Starvation Heights,Confessions of a Black Widow and Bitter Almonds were all at least 4 star books so I hope this is just one fluke.

[Verna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised after reading this book to discover I had changed my mind somewhat about this whole incident. I was probably like most people offended and outraged at a teacher sexually abusing a student. However, I came to understand this was no ordinary case of molestation. I truly came to believe it was a love match between adult and child. Who was the child and who was the adult is the big question? I just feel the teacher in question was suffering from a mental illness and arrested emotional development. This does not excuse the teacher's bad behavior; she should have waited until the boy was older to consummate the relationship.

[Elle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book desperately needed a thorough edit… repetitive, hard to follow and very slow - it felt like 600 pages instead of 300ish.

I found the writing horrific. The empathy given to Mary-Kay, the way the story of love was promoted… it is rape, plain and simple. A teacher, in a position of power, took advantage of a young, vulnerable child. Regardless of how sexually/world wise he was, she took her authoritative power and manipulated him - and so many around her.

Honestly painful to read and made me simultaneously angry and bored.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating study of a woman who has untreated bipolar disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, OCD, and sociopathy. As far as I know, she's still untreated. How many other people like that are there in the world?

[k mandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just awful. It spun out like a fantasy based on a real event. I have read two other Olson crime books and this is absolutely the last. I didn't think the others were great but figured I'd give it a try. It is a difficult genre to write in and Ann Rule set a really high bar. Well, this a hot pile of something. One chapter has Mary Kay as an intelligent, focused student and then another describes how she was a party girl who didn't do homework and wouldn't let school get in the way of doing whatever she wanted. Much of the book takes a 'poor Mary Kay' stance with some attempts at providing some balance by mentioning some flaws although, even those were often presented as difficulties thrown in her path. This was an adult who made her own choices. The book absolutely made a mockery of the school system. As a teacher myself, I kept rolling my eyes over the way Olson characterized her teaching career. It was so flawed I nearly stopped reading. He wants the reader to believe that Mary Kay called the shots as a teacher and everyone admired her. Someone who cannot be on time, is extremely disorganized, doesn't show up for required meetings, favors select students over others, calls some students frequently on the phone, had babysitters and a student grade papers, lets students decide what they learn and also how they learn it.....is not going to be able to maintain the ruse of a dedicated , effective educator and colleague. Leaving a 12-year-old student "in charge" of the class so she could make copies, send faxes and do "whatever else she wanted" was laughable, not to mention a legal disaster waiting to happen. Indeed, there is a a group of people, known as administrators, in place to ensure that teachers are doing their jobs, meeting requirements, and that student learning is optimal and does not fall off course. Staying up all night to finish report cards that are to be in the hands of parents the next school day? No! Report cards are required to be finished by a deadline and turned in to an administrator, usually a week ahead of the distribution date. Constantly enabling Mary Kay would mean an administrator willingly put his or her job on the line for her. Not showing up for a faculty meeting in which she was slated to make a presentation? That would be cause for reprimand and a formal letter in a teacher's file. Colleagues would be pissed off with her and not blindly supporting her "creativity" as an educator. Her calling colleagues at midnight would not be well received and accepted. Her own children running around unattended (sometime naked) would have been a CPS issue and not neighbors feeling Mary Kay was just the greatest thing since sliced bread. Two teenaged babysitters would not continue to babysit and not be paid, especially with Mary saying Steve would pay them and Steve saying Mary would; what an obvious ploy that even teenagers would see through. The whole world thought Mary Kay hung the moon and everyone was so willing to overlook the things she did because she was so kind, beautiful and astute? Give me a break! She was a grown woman and she knew right from wrong. She knew she was entrusted with the lives of children and she betrayed them--students and her own biological children. That she even became sexually attracted to a sixth grade child should have sent her running for help; choosing to actually gratify her disgusting desires makes me sick. This book is a travesty in how Olson wants to influence the reader. He obviously did not research well and he certainly didn't even write well. The book has jarring changes, grammatical errors, conflicting information, and erroneous information. This a piece of writing that is still in the draft stage yet was published for some reason. There are some facts about her early family life taken from newspaper articles but the author's quest to weave it into a story resulted in a true crime book becoming fiction. Fact checking obviously did not become a tedious necessity (as it is for other writers of this genre) and did not appear to hold any value for Olson. My recommendation is to not waste your time or money on this book. I have read many, many true crime books and this one is, by far, the worst. I will not waste either my time nor my money on anything with his name on it in the future.

[Geeta Ramani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amorous teacher- juvenile student relationships ought not to go unpunished. And I wish conviction rates were higher for such teachers, both male and female.

Greg Olsen tells the story of one such conviction. An aspect that comes about strongly in this case: both teacher and student could have benefitted with counselling at the right time. Reading this book, I couldn't help thinking - even tabloid magazines are better written.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started out good and told a lot of background on Mary Kay that I had not read before. But after she was sent to jail, I felt it got really bogged down with a lot of people blaming each other for what was going on, a lot of childish games and money grabbing. It lost the personal touch that you read during the first 2/3rds of it. Starts good, finishes poor.

[Paula Rohde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Kay and I were hostesses together at Marie Calendars in Newport Beach, so I’ve always been curious about her story. Strange, she was always into older guys, college guys.

[John Cornelius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before reading this book, I knew the name of the teacher; I knew the crime she committed; and saw one interview with Barbara Walters from 2004 I believe; it was after she was released from prison. Having read the book from front to back, shocking would seem like an incredible understatement of the story.

It was a crime to have sex with a minor (regardless if it was consensual), and she paid the price for that crime with having registered as a sex offender, seeking treatment, six months jail time from first contact, reinstated to prison for seven years after violating a court order not to see the boy until legal age.

The details in the book are both extraordinary and appalling.

The loss of a younger brother to drowning in the pool was tragic, her father's affair with another woman with two children born from the affair and given no care by the family after the mother's death was unthinkable. For this woman to lose her marriage, her kids, her job, and teaching license for her ecstatic love for a thirteen year old boy was questionable. Granted the husband's affair and using her story for money gained from tabloids was not any great help.

This woman appeared more selfish for throwing away her life for this love for the boy. I hated the allusion to Romeo and Juliet or as star crossed lovers. Some may argue the age gap is meaningless, but he was the same age as her oldest child. How could she not see that?

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Mary Kay Letourneau, a married mother and school teacher, age 34, who began a love affair with one of her students, age 13. Mary Kay has asserted from the beginning that she is not a child molester, and this has never occurred before with one of her students or any other child. She claims this was a meeting of two soulmates. This wayward couple wound up having two daughters together, and eventually ended up getting married. I believe that have since gotten divorced, but they were together through all of this, even the jail term, for a long time. I cannot imagine what her four children from her previous marriage and her ex husband had to go through, not to mention all the families from all sides. It cannot be easy to be in the media spotlight and the subject of conversation and controversy. I think people often overlook those involved outside of the immediate subjects. Greg Olsen is one of my favorite true crime writers. I enjoyed this book, and enjoyed learning about this case more in depth than what I had seen on tv.

[Suzie Quint · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This isn't my normal reading material, but I lived in Seattle when this story broke, so it was a local story for me. So when I had the opportunity to snag this for free, I had to take it.

Most of the details from the arrest on, I already knew, but this delves deeply into MK's background and that was informative. It didn't change my opinion of what happened, but did convince me that MK is a selfish, immature woman who had little consideration for others when it got in the way of what she wanted. Because MK's ex-husband has done an admirable job of protecting the children she had with him, there's little about how they weathered this scandal but that's where my sympathies really lie.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoy the true crime genre, but I did not enjoy this book. Repetitive and very very slow it tells the story of a teacher and her rape of a twelve year old student.
I hated the way it was written, the apparent empathy by many people and the self centred approach of just about everyone involved.
She was thirty something, he was twelve.... how is that ever right even when dressed up as ‘true love’.
Just imagine the outcry if a male teacher of thirty something acted in this manner.... why is she any different? Shame on her, her friends and those who supported her.
Rape, is rape - he may well have been sexually aware at twelve but she was his teacher and a so called trusted member of society.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my god, here is the ultra-cheesy, cover-with-a-paper-bag- when-you-take-it-on-the-subway true crime: the one about Mary Kay LeTorneau and the kid. Considering the subject matter, this one could have been a lot more exploitative than it was, so I give a tip of the hat to Gregg Olsen and his writing talents for not making it so. Nevertheless, it's about what you'd expect, so for those who were as obsessed with this case as I was (i.e., no one, but you know what I mean), pick this one up.

[Bob Lake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed account of the public information available about Mary Kay Letourneau, the infamous 6th grade teacher who bore two children with one of her students.

I read the Kindle version which apparently came via a scan and had typos spready liberally throughout.

The writing was disappointing. It was very difficult to keep track of the large cast of characters. The chapters are short and not all in chronological order.

Not recommended

[Izabela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was great, but the writing was mediocre and full of errors. Despite the writing, the events were well described, so getting through the book was much less painful than it otherwise would have been had the story not been so interesting.

[Love · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can not believe these women or men in same situations can even think of sleeping with a student...Sick

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story but the writing reminded me too much of a newspaper article. I also found a lot of the sentences to be repetitive.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, held my attention. Well written for a easy read.

[Sandy from Alaska Colón · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book is okay. Lost interest towards the end.

[Marie-Jo Fortis · Rating 3 out of 5]

IF LOVING YOU IS WRONG by Gregg Olsen


First, I still don’t know if I like or dislike this book. The first factor that makes me feel iffy is the fact that Olsen takes on a story dirtied by scandal and, let’s face it, cheap journalism. And he tries to remedy to that by digging the facts and by making a pile of what can be taken seriously and what is paparazzi pooh-pooh. I must admit, he makes it gripping. It’s a famous story, the one of teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, married and the mother of four, who seduces or rapes or falls in love with a 13-year-old boy. That happened in 1997, and the jury is still out.

Mary Kay’s father is a politician, her mother is a career pusher and show-it-all (well, show the first floor of the house only, not the under furnished bedrooms upstairs) who seems to see maternal love as a detail. Mary Kay marries someone out of her league. This is no durable base for a solid marriage. Little by little, the man who carries boxes at the airport and the dreamy teacher fall out of love.

Mary Kay is what the French call a femme-enfant (woman/child), who loves creativity, which she has aplenty, loves teaching and loves being pregnant. She will bear two additional children from the boy of her Romeo and Juliet tale. But in this case elder Juliet does time in prison.

I feel both dislike and compassion toward Mary Kay, mostly compassion as she lives in a world parallel to ours. Her friends are aware of this but also know she can be manipulative. But so are children and I cannot see Mary Kay as a fully grown woman. That’s something Olsen portrays well, that delicate, charming little girl in need of attention and friends. These friends, relentlessly faithful at first, end up betraying her when money and interviews (those fifteen minutes of fame) come into the game. After feeling abandoned by her unloving mother, she feels abandoned by her friends. Who would want to belong to the adult world after such wounds?

The book is filled with details and contradictions, the same details and contradictions we get in our own lives. But humanity is not a French garden. Like nature, it has no pattern and no logic. We try to control that garden, but wild plants love to interfere and disturb our task. So I do understand where Olsen comes from. Still, if the book gives more details about the story, I still don’t know more about its essence. I don’t know what to think, I don’t know it there is an immoral act in all of this and perhaps I shouldn’t. Perhaps this encompasses all our little bourgeois beliefs and rules. After all, Mary Kay and Vili Fualaau had a 20-year-old relationship, among which 10 years of married life.

Still, had a man seduced a 13-year-girl, there is no question where this would have gone. There is no Lolita law in the judiciary system and neither should there be. Yes, there are physical differences, and some might assume that a 13-year-old boy cannot be raped. But rape is not always violent and can start with psychological persuasion that convinces the victim that what is done is normal or natural.

If Olsen wanted to discover some design out of all of these muddy complexities, he didn’t do it because it was just impossible. There is nothing cartesian when a scandal-fed fiction will blend in with simple facts, when both end up in tragedy. Mary Kay died of cancer in 2020. She was 58.

The afterword is what I find the most touching and successful part of the book, the one where Olsen says of Mary Kay Letourneau, “She was younger than her years in nearly every way.” That’s what If Loving You Is Wrong is all about.

June 13, 2025

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sins of the father shall be visited upon the sons; or in this case, the daughter. John Schmitz was a state senator in Orange County, California and the devout Catholic and John Bircher had pushed legislation limiting sex education in schools. I do not know if there is a God, but karma is a bitch. Johnny's daughter would become world famous for her hands on approach to carnal instruction with a twelve year-old boy. Daddy dearest also battled pro choice advocate Gloria Allred, calling her one of a sea of hard Jewish female faces. The JDL demonstrated in front of his house and daddy's little nineteen year-old girl played German marching music through her bathroom window. Mary Kate was proud of her Teutonic heritage. Poppa also did not like the term “gay,” preferring “queer.” The man who preached “self discipline” fathered two children with a mistress and the baby mama had to use the courts in order to have him pay $275 a month in child support. Meanwhile, Mary Kate somehow found herself pregnant while at Arizona State University by a fellow student, Steve Letourneau. A Catholic wedding ensued and the young lady hoped to learn to love her husband. Four children later, the thirty-four year-old would finally meet her soul mate, her twelve-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, an olive skinned Samoan boy. The horny and fertile teacher took her young man to art classes at a nearby college. After a good deal of hanky panky, including some inappropriate behavior at her home with Mr. Letourneau upstairs, the two lovers could not be unglued. The young lad impregnated the unhappy housewife. The teacher was arrested, pled guilty in exchange for deviancy counseling and spent six months in prison. She complained of the orange color of her jail attire. A month out of prison, Mary was caught in her Audi with her boy toy. It was back to the pokey and soccer mom was pregnant with lover boy's second child. The tabloids went crazy and money was spread everywhere for interviews. Media vultures Oprah and Sally Jessy Raphael spoke with Mary Kay and Steve Letourneau. The Globe paid Vili and he discribed sex in every room of her house and on a swing in the backyard. Kate said that they were Romeo and Juliet, and a love just meant to be. Olsen finished the book in 1999 and met Kate while she was still in prison. Internet searches complete the story. If You Really Love Me is a good true crime read.

[Krystal Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

mary kay louterno, the teacher who fell in love with her 13 year old student Villy. starts out with her childhood. dad is a prominent elected official. her mom cares more about the polital life than raising her children. the boys went to ivy league and she went to the state college. she was in the pool with her brother playing when her little brother drowned. her father had an affair and fathered more children (big scandle with him running on family values) when mary kay was in college she met steve, became pregnant and they were forced to marry. moved to washington state. mary kay became an elementary teacher while steve worked for the airline. few more children.
her and villy are in her van, the local police officer finds them, realizes somerthing is fishy and takes her in.
this starts the story. scandle of the town. she ends of pregnant. people say that things were off but they just thought she cared about her students. no really knew what was going on. except maybe her children who were told to keep quiet. mary kay was on house arrest and told to stay away from villy. they did not. they continued to see each other. she had the baby and everyone knew she wasnt steves baby. mark kay loved her. she ended up being raised by villys mom. when she went to prison mary kay was pregnant again. she spent 7 years in prison. her and villy got married in 2005 after they petioned the court to remove the order for no contact. they were married for 14 years. divorced in 2019 and mary kay passed away in 2020 due to colon cancer leaving villi her estate.
although i remember the story (happened in 1997) i didnt know how people really felt about this. i assumed everyone was like me and disgusted by the child rape. there were people defending their love. people who thought it was odd but they loved each other so it was fine.