# Any experts in criminal sentencing? What's the deal with MK Letourneau's release? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377 "2004-08-05T00:06:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/1 "2004-08-05T00:06:14Z")
[Mary Kay Letourneau was released today after more than seven years in a WA state prison](http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20040804/ap_on_re_us/teacher_sex). After her first conviction for child rape she served six months, and was released with the stipulation that she not have any further contact with the boy. But she did, and git pregnant again, and went back to jail. I don’t recall whether bothered trying her for another count for this second instance, but I don’t think so. Again, Mary Kay has orders not to see the former child, now 21 and father of their two children. HE is going before a judge to try and have this restriction removed. So how does this parole thing work? I would have thought that havong violated parole and served out a full sentence. you walked free and clear afterward. There seems to be some kind of state law about public notice of the location of registered sex offenders. Is that the law under which she has continuing reporting requirements? Is there a known legal basis for ordering the physical separation of two law-abiding, consenting adults who do not wish to be separated? ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/2 "2004-08-05T03:49:34Z")
He probably wants to get back with her so his family can find another way to milk more money out of this (book/movie deals - lawsuits against the state, etc.) I say this as, after the money ran out the LAST time, they THEN went to court to sue the school district and the local government/police department for allowingit to happen - even though they had spent lots of time saying how they supported her, had no problems with the relationship, etc. They lost that one. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/3 "2004-08-05T04:09:28Z")
Don’t they have kids together? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/4 "2004-08-05T04:42:38Z")
Yeah. The kid said that he wants the restriction lifted so they can discuss how to raise their kid (kids?). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/5 "2004-08-05T09:56:36Z")
Kids. She was pregnant with the first one when she went into jail the first time. She was pregnant with the second one when she went into jail the second time. ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/6 "2004-08-05T10:10:07Z")
she probably is on parole, either from the original beef or the second. the probation initially must have inolved a felony plea which was triggered when she violated the stay away provision (bigtime…) btw, this is an atrocity. these pople have been robbed of seven yearts of their lives together, their children irreprably damaged, and cui bono? obviously the father is no ordinary boy (I think this may have been overlooked in all the publicty, but think about it…) and yes, it’s different cause he’s a boy. get over it. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/7 "2004-08-05T13:20:14Z")
For reasons I think are obvious, she was prohibited from having contact with the boy with whom she had sex when he was 12, and her second sentence was for violating that condition. I do not know whether this was merely a condition of probation/parole or a separate no-contact order – if the latter, of course, it was not automatically lifted by her having been released. With him being 21, he can now ask that such an order be lifted, as an adult, and is apparently doing so. It’s my impression that her second conviction was a completely separate legal entity, for having violated egregiously the terms of her first sentence, not “serving out her full sentence for having violated parole.” But I could be wrong here. As for the rest of the question, it’s important to realize how indeterminate sentences work: if a person is sentenced to, say, three to ten years in prison, he is required to serve three full years, after which he becomes eligible for parole. The parole board then decides whether he is a good candidate for re-entry into society (thus providing an incentive for rehabilitation) and releases him subject to strict terms when he meets their eligibility criteria. If he violates parole, he is recommitted to prison. If he should not have been released on parole before the ten years expires, he is released unconditionally (subject to whatever legal disabilities a convicted felon has imposed on him in that state) – and if he “completes his sentence” as a parolee satisfactorily, he is likewise released from parole unconditionally. (In New York and a few other states, there are rules governing time for parole, so that someone is automatically sentenced to an indeterminate sentence where the minimum is one-third of the maximum, as in a four-to-twelve year sentence. He becomes eligible for consideration for parole at the end of the first third of his maximum sentence, he becomes entitled to parole (barring odd circumstances not related to his original sentence) at the end of two-thirds of his sentence. He must be granted parole if he wants it – though a few men refuse to take it.) ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/8 "2004-08-05T19:49:43Z")
The young man in question has requested that [the no contact order be vacated.](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0804042maryk1.html) ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/9 "2004-08-05T20:12:34Z")
> [@alaricthegoth](#): > > she probably is on parole, either from the original beef or the second. Now that’s funny. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/10 "2004-08-05T20:27:59Z")
> [@](#): > > …After her first conviction for child rape she served **six months, ,** - - - The deal is that in the USA, for no justifiable reason, _women regularly get vastly shorter sentences for statutory rape crimes than men do_, even when the circumstances of the crimes are roughly equivalent. ~ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2004, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experts-in-criminal-sentencing-whats-the-deal-with-mk-letourneaus-release/258377/11 "2004-08-05T20:42:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Washington is one of the states that have specific sentence ranges for each crime. These sentence lengths are called presumptive sentences and are determined by the Washington State Legislature (this is called determinate sentencing). When this offender was sentenced to prison by the judge, the length of required prison time was within the range. > > Someone with no previous offenses has a shorter sentence, than someone who has been in trouble before. A person, who has a previous offense against a person, will be sentenced to a longer term than someone whose previous offense was a property crime. These possibilities are included in the sentencing guidelines. > > On some occasions, judges don’t follow the guidelines. This is called an exceptional sentence. When a judge has a compelling reason to depart from the sentencing guidelines above or below, he or she must submit the reasons for that departure into the court record. > > At some point in time, the offender will have served the sentence required by law and must be released. Once the sentence is finished, neither the Law Enforcement Agency, nor the court has the power to tell the offender where to live or work. The information provided in this meeting is supplied to inform you of the location the offender has chosen to reside, and/or those other places the offender is most likely to conduct legitimate activities. Source: [http://ml.waspc.org/FAQ.aspx](http://ml.waspc.org/FAQ.aspx) MKL was sentenced on 14 November 1997 to 89 months in prison (She was to to serve 6 months, 83 suspended). MLK was released from the King County jail on 06 January 1998 having served her mandatory six months. (The apparant discrepancy with the above dates is she was in jail prior to her sentencing and this counted as time already served towards her initial six months.) MLK was arrested on 03 February 1998 for violating the conditions of her probation. MLK was released this month having served her time in jail.