Courtesy of People Magazine. 

Mary Kay Letourneau made headlines after courting a then-12-year old Vili Fualaau into an intimate relationship, a story that shocked the world.

She was sentenced to over seven years in prison on charges of child rape, but after she returned home the two swung back into their relationship and got married. Now, after over 20 years, they’re separating.

“I’m convinced they were totally in love,” Mary Kay’s lawyer, David Gehrke, told People magazine. “But sometimes, people who are totally in love have trouble staying in love. They slowly drift apart. One day, you wake up and realize that things are different with your partner… 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. This was a couple who was in love. They had children together, and they raised those children.”

He continued: “Vili was the one who filed a petition for separation, which is usually a precursor for filing for divorce. It gives legal notice to creditors and the like that the debts won’t be joint. She could try to contest it, but that’s legally tough to do.”