Should a teacher who had sex with a sixth-grade student and who later bore his child be sent to prison for seven years? That is the question King County Superior Court Judge Linda Lau faced when she sentenced former reacher Mary Kay Letourneau in a hearing aired live on Court TV on November 14, 1997. Letourneau pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape on August 7,1997. Prosecutors sought a six-and-a-half year prison term for Letourneau.

Nov.14: After pleading guilty to child rape, Mary Kay Letourneau was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of counseling

Letourneau, 35, first met her young lover when he was a student in her second-grade in Shorewood Elementary School, which is in a suburb of Seattle, Wash. The boy and Letourneau developed a friendship that continued even when she was his teacher once again in the sixth grade. However, their relationship reportedly became sexual as he entered the seventh grade. They reportedly had sex twice, once in Letourneau's home and once in her car, between June 1996 and February 1997. At the time of her affair, Letourneau was married mother of four children.

Suspicion about the affair between Letourneau and her student began in February after Letourneau's husband, Steven, discovered love letters written by his wife to the then 13-year-old. Steven told his relatives about the letters and his suspicions, and they contacted Washington child protective services. Letourneau was arrested in the parking lot of Shorewood Elementary School in the last week of February. Soon after her arrest, the school district suspended her from her job without pay. At the time of Letourneau's arrest, she was pregnant with her young lover's child. She gave birth to the baby, a girl, in May 1997, making her former student a father at age 14.

Since the disclosure of his wife's affair, Steven Letourneau has filed for divorce and moved with their four children to Alaska. Mary Kay Letourneau was imprisoned after her guilty plea in August. Her young lover's mother is caring for the newborn baby and has said that "Letourneau is a human being who made one horrible mistake." Prior to the sentencing hearing, the student's mother said that Letourneau should receive mercy from the court. The victim, whose name remains concealed, has claimed in interviews that his relationship with Letourneau was "real love" and that he does not consider himself a victim in any way.

Mary Kay Letourneau was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of counseling in a community-based program for sex offenders. Because she had already served 100 days of the sentence since her guilty plea in August, Letourneau had serve only the remaining 80 days of the sentence. Before receiving her sentence, Letourneau tearfully told the Judge Linda Lau, "I did something that I had no right to do, morally or legally. It was wrong and I am sorry."

"It will not happen again," Letourneau continued. "Please help me...help us all."

Judge Lau cited the wishes of Letourneau's victim and his family in her granting Letourneau the light sentence. However, Judge Lau ordered Letourneau to stay away from the 14-year-old boy and warned her that she would be sent to prison for seven years if she violated the conditions of her sentence.