Gemma and Leonel Vasquez got married at a prison in Virginia on December 29 last year (Picture: SWNS)

A Scottish woman who married a rapist serving 20 years in a US prison said ‘he’s done so much to better himself’ behind bars.

Gemma and Leonel Vasquez wed on December 29 last year, despite living more than 3,500 miles apart and Vasquez being incarcerated.

Gemma, from Glasgow, was not put off by her new husband’s 2011 rape conviction, saying: ‘I’m not marrying his past and he was very, very young when it happened.’

The admin worker met Vasquez through his mum, after she became Gemma’s Spanish teacher in July 2020.

Gemma first emailed Vasquez, from Washington, in February 2021 and the two hit it off, chatting on the phone for the first time five months later.

Gemma said: ‘I still get the butterflies every time he calls or his name pops up on a message. I’m always so super excited. We just connected straight away.

‘You never expect your life to take a turn like this. I just thought I’d meet a guy here in Scotland.’

Gemma met Vasquez through her Spanish teacher who was his mum (Picture: SWNS)

Vasquez proposed to Gemma and sent her an engagement ring last July (Picture: SWNS)

When Gemma heard about Vasquez’s crimes, Gemma thought ‘that’s a very serious thing to be convicted of’.

But she went on: ‘I asked him to tell me the whole story on the phone – that was very important to me. I felt very reassured by talking to him about it, and also by his whole family.’

She first travelled to Virginia to visit Vasquez in April last year and Vasquez proposed over the phone in July, with the couple planning to marry this year.

But the rapist surprised Gemma and secretly organised for their wedding to take place when she flew over to visit again in December.

They had the ceremony under a Christmas tree in the prison’s visiting room with two guards present.

The couple were allowed to hug, kiss and hold hands – they even shared a first dance without any music. Both families support the union.

Vasquez is hoping to be released from prison early because of his good behaviour (Picture: SWNS)

Gemma said: ‘Love doesn’t wait. If you’re called to marry somebody you don’t have to hang on for a big day, big dress, or big cake. We’re looking to the future.

‘I’ve always just taken him on how he treats me right now. It’s about who he is as a person. He’s a grafter – he’s always studying, working and revising.

‘I really didn’t know how it would work out being so far away and him not free, but we just fell in love.’

Vasquez expects to be released from prison in the next four years because of his good behaviour.

He said: ‘I longed for someone to truly love me for who I am. But I thought: “Why would anyone want me?”

‘It is not easy to be in a relationship with someone that is incarcerated. You are doing time with them it takes a special type of individual to truly make that commitment.

‘Ever since she said yes, it has been a fairy tale. I am hopelessly devoted to the love of my life and not a day goes by that I don’t feel blessed to have her.’

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The newlywed said: ‘I’m not marrying his past and he was very very young when it happened.’