Where Is Vili Fualaau Now? A Look At His Life 26 Years After Mary Kay Letourneau Trial

Vili Fualaau is a father of three and a grandfather

Ex-teacher Mary Kay Letourneau's illegal relationship with her sixth-grade student Vili Fualaau and her subsequent rape trial captivated the nation in the late 1990s.

In 1996, the former middle school teacher began sexually abusing a then-12-year-old Fualaau, whom she had known since he was in second grade. Later that year, Letourneau became pregnant with Fualaau's child, and on March 4, 1997, she was arrested for child rape.

A trial followed and while Letourneau was sentenced to seven years in prison for child rape, the story between the pair did not end there. They welcomed their second child in 1998 — making Fualaau a father of two by age 15. After her time in prison, Letourneau and Fualaau married and raised their two daughters, Audrey and Georgia, together in Seattle.

While they initially separated in 2017 and officially divorced in 2019, "they were totally in love," Letourneau's attorney David Gehrke once told PEOPLE. "But sometimes, people who are totally in love have trouble staying in love," he added.

Letourneau later died of cancer in 2020, and Fualaau went on to welcome a third daughter named Sophia two years later. In January 2024, he became a grandfather for the first time.

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

Over two decades after Letourneau's infamous trial, her relationship with Fualaau inspired the 2023 film May December, which stars Julianne Moore, Natalie Portman and Charles Melton, and follows the story of a 36-year-old woman who began an intimate affair with a teenage boy.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Fualaau said that no one associated with the movie had reached out to him and called it "a ripoff of my original story."

"I’m offended by the entire project and the lack of respect given to me — who lived through a real story and is still living it," he said.

Here's everything to know about Vili Fualaau's life today.

Where is Vili Fualaau now?

Prior to the trial that became a worldwide sensation, Fualaau was a boy involved with a teacher he had known since he was in second grade. When he started seeing Letourneau outside of school, the sexual abuse began. However, Letourneau claimed that she did not know having sex with a minor was a crime. She was 34 years old when she began her relationship with then-12-year-old Fualaau.

Since the trial, Fualaau has largely remained out of the public eye. He spent many years as a DJ in Seattle, going by the stage name "DJ Headline," and was occasionally spotted with Letourneau in their hometown of Seattle during their marriage.

In 2022, he welcomed his third child, a daughter named Sophia, from another relationship. While information surrounding Sophia's arrival has been kept private, Fualaau's second daughter Georgia posted about her new sibling on Instagram, which was seen by PEOPLE.

"Hi Sophia, I'm your big sister! You're so beautiful, I can't wait to watch you grow. I'll be right here by your side no matter what ! I love you," Georgia captioned the post, which featured a photo of the newborn in the hospital.

Fualaau is also set to be a first-time grandfather as Georgia is pregnant with a baby boy. Georgia shared that she was expecting her first child in September 2023 and told PEOPLE that her father has been extremely supportive. "They have been with me at almost every appointment, and they have just been my rocks," she shared.

She added of Fualaau, “He’s already buying baby stuff for me and giving me hand-me-downs from my baby sister, which is nice," referencing her younger sister Sophia. "I just know that he’s going to be the greatest grandfather ever."

What happened to Mary Kay Letourneau?

Letourneau entered a guilty plea in 1997 and was charged with two counts of second-degree rape of a child. She was sentenced to seven years in prison but was paroled after six months under the condition she would stay away from Fualaau. That rule was broken after they were seen in a car together two weeks after her initial release, which led to a judge ordering her to serve the rest of her prison sentence.

Though a no-contact order was in place when Letourneau was released from prison in 2004,  Fualaau successfully petitioned the court to revoke it. Then 21, he was free to continue the relationship.

Letourneau and Fualaau wed in 2005 and remained together for over a decade until Fualaau filed for legal separation in 2017. Their younger daughter was 18, and the empty nesters seemed to drift apart.

“Vili was the one who filed a petition for separation, which is usually a precursor for filing for divorce," Leturneau's attorney David Gehrke exclusively told PEOPLE. He added that though they faced struggles, he believed that they were truly in love with one another.

The couple tried to work it out, living together months after their legal separation and eventually giving the relationship another try. However, by 2019, it was over for good.

In July 2020, Letourneau died of stage 4 cancer. She was 58. Though the former teacher and Fualaau were divorced at the time, her death had a profound impact on him.

"He lost a piece of himself," a friend close to Fualaau told PEOPLE following Latourneau's death. "He understands how f----- up everything was in how they got together. He's not stupid. But he can't turn off his feelings completely, and it's a big loss for him. He talked to her right before she passed, and they said everything they needed to say."

Where are Vili Fualaau and Mary Kay Letourneau's children?

By the time Fualaau was 15, he was a father of two. He and Letourneau welcomed their first child together, daughter Audrey, in May 1997 — three months before Letourneau would plead guilty to two counts of child rape. Their second daughter, Georgia, was born during Letourneau's prison sentence in October 1998.

Audrey and Georgia were teenagers when their parents initially split in 2017.

In January 2024, Georgia and her longtime boyfriend welcomed their first child together — a baby boy.

A few months prior, Georgia told PEOPLE that her late mother would be "really happy" about her pregnancy. She shared, "I think maybe at first it would be kind of shocking, because I am her baby, but after that, she’d be the most excited grandmother-to-be."

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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