Mary Kay Letourneau and Her Student: Inside the Relationship That Shocked a Nation

September 1991: Teacher Mary Kay Letourneau meets Vili Fualaau in second-grade class

Letourneau first met the boy she would eventually sexually abuse, later identified as Vili Fualaau, when he was her second-grade student in suburban Seattle. "There was a respect, an insight, a spirit, an understanding between us that grew over time," she told The Seattle Times in July 1997. "It was the kind of feeling you have with a brother or sister — a feeling that they're part of your life forever."

Fall 1995: Mary Kay Letourneau's obsession with Vili Fualaau deepens

Letourneau formed a close relationship with Fualaau when he was a second-grader who showed remarkable artistic ability that she delighted in cultivating. But she later said that — at first — there was nothing illicit about her feelings. "I didn't know what it meant," she said. "I felt that one day he might marry my daughter."

Over the next several years, Letourneau kept in touch with the child. She bought him art supplies, took him to museums and encouraged him to develop his talent for poetry.

Then, starting in the fall of 1995, when Letourneau had the child in her sixth-grade class, she suffered a series of emotional jolts. Her marriage was in trouble, and in January 1996, Letourneau experienced a miscarriage that left her on the brink of a breakdown.

She apparently took solace in her connection with Fualaau.

June 1996: Mary Kay Letourneau draws Vili Fualaau closer

In a 1998 book they authored with a ghostwriter — titled Un Seul Crime, L'Amour (Only One Crime, Love) — Letourneau and Fualaau set forth their account of their relationship, from her recognition of his artistic talent in her second-grade class to his precocity when she had him in class again as a sixth grader at Shorewood Elementary in Burien, Wash.

At age 12, Fualaau claimed he bet a friend $20 he would have sex with Letourneau. When he began spending time at her house doing schoolwork, Letourneau — unhappy in a troubled marriage — began fantasizing about him. "I had promised myself it would not happen before my divorce," she wrote. But a few days before Fualaau’s 13th birthday, the sexual abuse began.

September 1996: Mary Kay Letourneau is pregnant with Vili Fualaau's child

Letourneau told Oprah Winfrey that she considered the boy "the love of my life." The teenager, who had given her a silver ring, said after her arrest that they had planned to have a baby to strengthen their ties.

Letourneau had denied planning the first pregnancy but conceded she was "not angry" when she learned she would have a child.

March 4, 1997: Mary Kay Letourneau is arrested for child rape

The sexual abuse came to light in February 1997, when Letourneau's then-husband, Steve Letourneau, found some of his wife's love letters to Fualaau at their home. What he didn't know at the time was that she was already six months pregnant with Fualaau's baby. After a relative of Steve's called officials at Shorewood Elementary to report the liaison, she was questioned and arrested a month later.

In May, she gave birth to a baby girl, Audrey. Three months after, she pleaded guilty to two counts of child rape.

August 1997: Mary Kay Letourneau is sentenced to prison

At her sentencing, Letourneau pleaded for leniency. Even the boy's mother spoke on Letourneau's behalf. "I feel Mary has been punished enough for her mistake," she said.

Judge Linda Lau sentenced her to seven and a half years, suspending all but six months on the condition that Letourneau enter a treatment program for sex offenders, take medication for her bipolar disorder and have absolutely no contact with Fualaau.

But prosecutors argued Letourneau was not to be trusted, and it soon became clear they had a reason. While finishing her six months behind bars, Letourneau began taking the drug Depakote to treat her bipolar disorder. But within days of her release, on Jan. 2, 1998, she had stopped taking it and was rebelling against her sexual-deviancy counselor. As prosecutor Lisa Johnson later told the court, "She doesn't believe she needs treatment, because she doesn't believe she did anything wrong."

February 1998: Mary Kay Letourneau violates her parole to reunite with Vili Fualaau

On the evening of Feb. 2, 1998, Fualaau phoned Letourneau, and early the next morning, they were found in her car.

Fualaau reportedly told his counselor he and Letourneau had sex at least once during the month she was out on parole, and she became pregnant with their second child. An angry Judge Lau immediately ordered Letourneau back to prison to finish her sentence. Letourneau gave birth to her daughter, Georgia, behind bars in October 1998.

"I would imagine [they] will get married as soon as she gets out of prison," a friend of Letourneau's told PEOPLE in 1998. "The two of them want to be together. They're drawn together like magnets."

2004–2005: Mary Kay Letourneau completes prison sentence, marries Vili Fualaau

Letourneau was released from prison in August 2004. Not long after, she and Fualaau successfully petitioned to have their court-ordered no-contact order lifted. They were married in May 2005 before 200 guests at the Columbia Winery in Woodinville, Wash.

"They loved each other," Letourneau's attorney, David Gehrke, later told PEOPLE. "They were devoted to each other. They courted for 10 years, and they were married for 10 years. Yes, he was a minor, but they had back-channel contact during the time they weren't supposed to be speaking. Not as regularly as they would have otherwise, but they were in contact."

One year after their wedding, the couple sat down for an interview with PEOPLE.

"We do normal things," said Letourneau, who sometimes had all four of her children staying with her, Fualaau and their daughters at the three-bedroom beachside house they rented in Normandy Park, Wash. She said then that the family "all went out to dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, then over to Blockbuster to get a movie."

Letourneau's four other kids were slowly re-entering her life at the time. Fualaau said his relationship with Letourneau's oldest son, who is only one year younger than him, could be strained: "I feel a bit of competition, like, 'Who deserves mom's attention more?' "

May 2009: Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau make rare public appearance

The couple largely stayed out of the public eye after their 2005 wedding and the resulting media attention. But in May 2009, they appeared at a Seattle sports bar for "Hot Teacher Night” — she emceed, and he deejayed.

April 2015: Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau speak out after 10 years of marriage

In April 2015, Fualaau and Letourneau sat down for a 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters where they discussed their marriage and parenting their two teenage daughters, Audrey and Georgia.

When asked whether she felt "guilty" or "disgusted" with herself for abusing Fualaau, Letourneau replied, "I loved him very much, and I kind of thought, 'Why can't it ever just be a kiss?' "

Elsewhere during their sit-down with Walters, Fualaau and Letourneau spoke candidly about their nearly decades-long relationship.

Fualaau confessed that he struggled with depression in the years that followed that period of his life. "I'm surprised I'm still alive today," he said. "I went through a really dark time." Not having a strong support system when Letourneau became pregnant with his children was the hardest part, he said.

Meanwhile, according to Letourneau, their two daughters seemed to know about their parents' illicit history without having to be told.

May 2017: Vili Fualaau files for separation from Mary Kay Letourneau

In May 2017, Fualaau filed for separation from Letourneau — who was still a registered sex offender — after 12 years of marriage, according to her attorney.

"I'm convinced they were totally in love," Gehrke said. "But sometimes, people who are totally in love have trouble staying in love."

July 7, 2020: Mary Kay Letourneau dies

In early 2020, Letourneau was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer metastasized, and her health deteriorated quickly. She died on July 7, 2020. In a statement, her family said she "fought tirelessly against this terrible disease." She was 58.

* With KC BAKER, ADAM CARLSON, BILL HEWITT, STEVE HELLING, TIERNEY McAFEE and ALEX TRESNIOWSKI