Letourneau says she "absolutely" believes she was wrongly imprisoned for having sex with a 12-year-old.
Mary Kay Letourneau, husband Vili Fualaau and the controversial couple's two children appeared in a new television interview that got pretty heated as the reporter grilled the former teacher on the couple's illegal relationship.
Appearing on Australia's "Sunday Night" show, Mary Kay and Vili were joined by their now grown daughters Audrey, 21, and Georgia, 19, who got candid about the media scrutiny on their family and what it was like growing up in the shadow of scandal.
"I think I understand about it, just like how it was surprising to people," Audrey said when asked about her parents' relationship. "It's been feeling different because it's not really been brought to our attention, just because we grew up with it, so we're adapted to it."
"He definitely feels like a young dad now that I'm at that adult age to where I'm like, I can go to the bar," she added, saying Vili is more "like a friend dad."
Audrey, who was born while Mary Kay was behind bars, didn't say much, except to say that her mom "literally cut the padding out of my bra once." Defending her actions, Letourneau said, "It's unnecessary and it's unnatural on so many levels."
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View StoryLetourneau added that, growing up, she'd tell her two daughters every day, "I love you, now go and do the right thing."
But when asked by reporter Matt Doran whether she did the right thing looking back at her relationship with Vili -- which began when she was 34 and he was 12 -- she got combative. "You know what, I'm not going to continue with you trying to have me answer that question," she told him. "I did my best every single day and I live that way and I did. And in that situation, it doesn't even matter."
There were quite a few tense exchanges like that throughout the 30-minute special, including one conversation even Fualaau said was "ridiculous" and "weird."
TONIGHT: the affair between 34-year-old Mary Kay Letourneau and 12-year-old Vili Fualaau - two decades on they're still together, and their kids tell #SN7 what their family is like. Plus - living off the grid - why more Aussies are cutting off their electricity. 7pm on @Channel7. pic.twitter.com/uXAKdDmxor
@SundayNightOn7
In an odd moment between Doran, Letourneau and Fualaau (_which is teased in the promo above), the reporter asked about her children with ex-husband Steve Letourneau, to whom she was married when she began her underage affair. "That's why I asked him to get away from us," she said of Fualaau. "Go and do your thing."
When Doran said it seemed like she was saying the 12-year-old was "relentlessly pursuing" her, but she was the adult, Letourneau responded, "You can say that. I was by age. You don't know him."
"I don't need to know him in this discussion, he's the child," Doran shot back. Letourneau then repeatedly asked her husband, "Who was the boss? Who was the boss? Who was the boss back then?" At this point, Fualaau said "this is ridiculous" and "this is getting weird," as she kept asking the same question. Eventually, he relented, saying, "I was the pursuer."
"Mary, even as you're hearing this now, come on, he was 13," Doran then said. When she responded by saying, "It doesn't matter," the reporter replied, "It absolutely matters!"
"Flaw me," Letourneau said, "I did the best I could. Flaw me. Character flaw. Ooh." She also later took issue with Doran characterizing Fualaau as "a little boy" in the '90s.
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View StoryThroughout the interview, Mary Kay continued to deny knowing "there was a specific law" saying their relationship was illegal at the time. "I did not know, I have said this over and over again," she claimed.
She added that she "absolutely" believes she was "wrongly imprisoned."
"It's just absurd to think that 13-year-olds aren't having sex and they're not pursuing it in a very deliberate, knowing way," she said. "It's absurd."
Doran called her out on that one too, saying it's not relevant because of her own age at the time.
"There are cases where there could be abuse, so you have to have a law that acts as a deterrent," Mary added. "There are people who might pursue and abuse a situation."
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View StoryIn a solo interview, Fualaau said that what she did was legally "wrong," and added that they "maybe should have waited" to have a physical relationship. "I think about it, could I have ever done that, could I have ever been with a girl that's 13 years old right now and I don't see myself doing it," the now-35-year-old said.
Speaking by himself, Fualaau also admitted to thinking about separation. "Every now and then, I don't want to talk about that," he added.
When Doran asked if he had any advice for his 13-year-old self, Fualaau said with a laugh, "Don't do it!" However, he then went on to say he regrets nothing because of his two children.
"Anything that's already happened is already meant to be. it's my journey in life, so I gotta live it out," he added.