Worth noting that in life + now death, articles re Mary Kay Letourneau never mention her dad was CA congressman John Schmitz from Orange County, a Republican w views so conservative the John Birch Society threw him out... quite an accomplishment https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mary-kay-letourneau-teacher-jailed-raping-student-she-later-married-n1233133

This fact doesn’t change severity of MKL’s crime but sure feels like a deliberate omission given how many conservatives pointed to her as evidence of the decline of morality in America, need for family values...

EXACTLY the drum he was beating in 1960s when he opposed sex ed

I hate psychologizing from afar, but when I learned this, I spent too much time wondering whether MKL was rejecting her dad (he denied female sexuality, was virulently racist, railed abt immoral teachers) or emulating his abuse of power/adultery

IDK, likely both, but v sad story