Forget LeTourneau
August 4, 2004
Today, Mary Kay LeTourneau, the former sixth grade teacher charged with raping one of her students, walks free. Since her incarceration six years ago, LeTourneau has gained national notoriety for being either what you want to keep your children away from or every horny high school student's dream.
Speculation has been building in the media for the past several days regarding a possible reunion between LeTourneau and her former student lover, Vili Fualaau, now 21. There are talks of a book deal, a Lifetime special and interrogation by Barbara Walters.
Don't we have better things to worry about?
Before LeTourneau and Fualaau become the next J. Lo and Ben, perhaps we as a community should consider why we are so fascinated by child rape.
LeTourneau took advantage of a 12-year-old, and has become a celebrity because of it.
While LeTourneau's behavior has not set a precedent, the arrest of a Southern school teacher (who bears a striking resemblance to the blond, doe-eyed LeTourneau) on charges of raping a seventh grader has garnered gasps of interest along with gasps of horror.
If the media paid as much attention to the hundreds of child-abuse cases as it did to the soap opera of the former teacher and her boy lover, there might be fewer cases of LeTourneau-ism to report on.
It's time to move on, folks. Today, LeTourneau gets out of prison. Whether or not LeTourneau and Fualaau reunite is not the big issue. How to prevent such an incident from happening again is a more worthy news story. Let's close this book -- and not make a book deal.
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