A special education teacher accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student in Downers Grove, Illinois, allegedly kept notes about their relationship in her phone.
After the suspect, identified as 30-year-old Christina Formella, was arrested, authorities charged her with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault against a minor, People reported Thursday.
Now, the woman is accused of keeping a “memoir” in a notes app on her phone in which she reportedly wrote the victim “cheated” on her and called him “disgusting,” according to court documents.
She then reportedly wrote the two would never be together again and said she was not a second choice but “the best thing you’ll ever have” even though she had made mistakes.
The outlet said the suspect also wrote she expected the victim to contact her to try and fix their alleged relationship. However, Formella reportedly said she would continue living her life because he was not the person she thought he was.
When questioned by authorities, the married suspect allegedly claimed the app was an outlet for her to express her anxiety and she was referring to her husband. She has also denied having sex with the victim.
In addition, Formella previously claimed she was blackmailed by the victim because she is good looking, per Breitbart News. The outlet noted the suspect said she did not assault the student during tutoring sessions at Downers Grove South High School in December 2023 after the victim’s mother found texts on his phone regarding the alleged assault.
The outlet continued:
“She claimed that one day, [the boy] had grabbed her phone unattended, had entered her passcode… had sent the message to his phone, had then deleted the message from her phone, and had saved it to his phone as blackmail,” court documents detailed.
Formella has claimed that her looks and caring “too much” made her an easy target of blackmail.
According to court records, Formella said “everybody comes after her because she is good looking and she is just a good person who cared too much about [the boy].”
Formella was also a soccer coach at the school prior to the allegations against her.
Video footage shows the moment an officer arrested her in March and when she began crying in the back of his vehicle:
NEW: Police release bodycam footage showing the moment they arrested high school teacher Christina Formella for allegedly r*ping one of her students.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 1, 2025
Formella was seen having a meltdown after police made the arrest.
The teacher is accused of r*ping a 15-year-old student before… pic.twitter.com/p5Ol3N88Os
According to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network’s (RAINN) website, child sexual abuse “is a form of child abuse that includes sexual activity with a minor. A child cannot consent to any form of sexual activity, period.”
“A perpetrator does not have to be an adult to harm a child. They can have any relationship to the child including an older sibling or playmate, family member, a teacher, a coach or instructor, a caretaker, or the parent of another child,” the site read.
