Mary Kay Letourneau
Former Seattle teacher Mary Kay Letourneau, whose affair with one of her ex-pupils caused a national scandal, appears in a King County Courtroom for her sentencing February 6. Reuters/Stringer

One of the most controversial and questionable relationships in the United States has ended after more than 20 years of marriage. Vili Fualaau has separated from his wife and former teacher, 55-year-old Mary Kay Letourneau, who was jailed for having sex with him when he was just 12.

According to TMZ, Fualaau, 33, filed for separation earlier this month. They married in 2005 and have two children together. No other details about the separation were provided.

Letourneau and Fualaau’s relationship became a nationwide topic in 1996 when it emerged that Letourneau, who was 34 and married with four kids, had been having sexual relationship with a student in her sixth grade class in Washington, US. That kid was 12-year-old Fualaau,

She was arrested in March 1997 after a relative of her then-husband informed the police of the couple’s inappropriate relationship. She was pregnant with their first child, a daughter born in May of that year, when she pleaded guilty and was convicted of two counts of second-degree child rape. She served three months in jail and was required to undergo three years of sex offender treatment. As part of her plea bargain, she agreed not to have contact with Fualaau.

However, after she completed her jail sentence, she was arrested on probation violation after being caught in a car with Fualaau. She was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for violating her probation. She was pregnant for the second time and she gave birth to another daughter while serving her sentence.

Upon Letourneau’s release from prison in 2004, Fualaau, who was now 21 years old, was granted a reversal of the no-contact order against his former teacher, allowing the couple to continue their relationship. They married in May 2005.

Letourneau divorced her first husband, Steve Letourneau, while she was jailed. He gained custody of their children. Her daughters with Fualaau are now adults.