Court TV Host: Send in your questions for Christina Dress, former cell mate of Mary Kay Letourneau. Letourneau is being released from prison next week, and Christina Dress has written a book about the case, "Mass with Mary: The Prison Years."

Court TV Host: And Christina Dress is joining us live online now.

Question from phroggygreen: Is Mary still in love with Vili?

Christina Dress: Very much so. I think she's always loved him. There's no question about it. She's gone through different periods of time, where she's thought that she just wants what's best for Vili. It doesn't mean she loves him any less, it just means that if she thinks he wants to move on, she wouldn't want to stand in his way. She just wants what's best for him -- she really cares about Vili.

Question from ctv_warhorse2: What was Mary Kay's demeanor like while your two were cell mates?

Christina Dress: We never lived in a cell - that's a big misconception. They never allowed us to share a cell -- they knew we were writing a book together. And we were denied several times. Lots of inmates put in to room together -- we were never allowed to. Which leads me to letting people know, we were often kept separate when the prison officials knew we were in a writing project together. They did their best to make sure we were kept separate. We never had library appointments at the same time, when we put in to have appointments at the same time, we would find that they were changed. We would request to be in an art class together on the same day at the same time and find that we both didn't make the list. So, we soon realized that the only place that we couldn't be kept separate was Catholic mass on Thursday nights Thus, we named the book Mass with Mary: The Prison Years Even at times when Mary was pregnant, and there were times when she was housed in the clinic, they still had to allow her to go to Catholic mass, and that's where we would always see each other and could talk.

Question from daisytex573: Does Mary Kay believe that this boy still loves her as much as she loves him?

Christina Dress: I think she's counting on it.

Question from april28: Is she going back to her family?

Christina Dress: Unfortunately, Mary's father has passed during her incarceration, which is very sad for Mary. They were extremely close. The bright side of things is that her mother, also named Mary, is so excited about Mary's release, and so eager to spend as much time with Mary as she possibly can. I think they need each other, maybe now more than ever.

Question from fualish: Christina, how did Mary Kay secretly communicate with Vili when she was in prison? And how did she get caught?

Christina Dress: She communicated any way she could, in the beginning. She would try to call him. She would send him letters through a third party, and she sent him audio tapes, but as soon as she was discovered by prison staff for having contact with Vili, which is against court order, she was taken immediately to administrative segregation, otherwise known as the hole. Mary remained in the hole for seven months, which is absolutely ludicrous. I've seen an inmate beat another woman within an inch of her life, to the point where the woman had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance, and the abuser was given 20 days in the hole. It just doesn't make sense. Whenever Mary was in the equation, nothing made sense.

Question from lawperson: What is Mary Kay like?

Christina Dress: She's charming, charismatic, very witty. She's sensitive, she sees two sides to every story, and she's one of the best friends I've ever had. And I never expected to meet someone like that in prison, and I think I was fortunate to meet her, and I feel that she thinks the same.

Question from SAILOR: How has she acted in prison, and did she get along well with others?

Christina Dress: In the beginning, inmates were a little standoffish towards Mary because of her notoriety, but she quickly became friends with many, a teacher to some, and even a member of my volleyball team. Mary became involved in every program available to keep herself busy and occupy her time in a productive way.

Question from Cincinnati_Girl: Welcome Christina! What could you say was the thing that surprised you most, that you learned about Mary?

Christina Dress: There are several things. For starters, I was surprised at her refusal to sell family photos for an obscene amount of money. She earned my respect right then. Her interaction with Audrey and Georgia (Alexis) was absolutely beautiful. Those kids beam with pride when they're with Mary.

Question from phroggygreen: Will Mary get custody of her children?

Christina Dress: It is my hope, and Mary's, that the family will work this out together. When you think about what's best for the children, the answers should come easy. Those children love Soona, Vili's mother. They love Vili They love Mary. But Mary is Mommy, and it's my hope that the children will end up in Mary's custody. I think Soona might find it quite a relief to be a grandmother instead of primary caretaker.

Question from Lisa: how did you become friends?

Christina Dress: I approached Mary her first week in prison, and I introduced myself to her, and I said that I'd heard that she was Catholic, and I invited her to our Catholic mass. I also told her that before Catholic mass, we have a small group of women that meet at the chapel with our Catholic chaplain, for our group counseling. I was surprised at Mary's answer -- I can remember it like it was yesterday -- she said she'd love to come, and to my surprise, she did. I thought she was just humoring me, just trying to be nice, and as it turned out, she did exactly what she said she'd do, and that continued to be Mary's MO throughout our incarceration. Mary rarely says something that she doesn't mean. I don't know what she said at court proceedings, but I know that Mary has very rarely let me down, if ever.

Question from bcalc7: What were you in jail for?

Question from ctvjunkie: What were you put in Jail for?

Christina Dress: A string of creative banking. I was convicted of forgery, numerous counts, identity theft, theft in the first degree, possession of stolen property, and anything else involving money, excluding robbing a bank. I was a pretty decent gal, at one point. I worked for a school district, and I spent years working at the Catholic youth organization, and I come from a pretty decent family. I was introduced to cocaine at a party, and it turned my life completely around, and into a downhill tumble.

Question from daisytex573: Why were the prison officials threatened by you two working together?

Question from SAILOR: Were either of you mistreated because of the writing?

Christina Dress: I guess I have to laugh. We were singled out constantly because writing a book about prison may be legal, but it's not acceptable, as far as prison officials are concerned. In fact, just last week, the prison told KING5 News, that I wasn't even there with Mary. They later said that they'd made a mistake, but it was a couple of days later. They are trying to backpedal and discredit this book any way they can -- because I told it all. I didn't just write about Mary Letourneau. I wrote about daily happenings at that prison. Just to give you a tip of the iceberg: we've had inmates come up pregnant, with an officer's baby, we've had unexplained deaths, sexual misconduct, leading to several officers being escorted off of the prison campus. I even write in the book about two officers' love affair going sour and the one officer ended up being shot and killed. By the way, that officer is serving 20 years in prison, in a federal penitentiary, because she cannot be housed with the inmates she once supervised... which is too bad.

Christina Dress: Our rooms were searched, I was taken to the hole with no just cause -- for no reason at all and officers even told me to my face, you've got to stop this business with Letourneau -- stop writing, how are you sending this out, where are the pages? They would ask. It's a miracle I got what I did out of that place. I know one thing: they're not going to like it.

Question from phroggygreen: Did she tell you what her plans for the future are?

Christina Dress: She has told me some, but I think I will leave that up to her to tell, to respect her privacy. I wish Mary all the luck in the world.