The Illinois teacher who was accused of molesting a 15-year-old student told police that the boy was a "stalker" and that her husband was aware of his alleged fascination with her after she was arrested. Christina Formella, 30, was arrested at a traffic stop last month for allegedly targeting a young student at Downers Grove South High School, south of Chicago.
She also worked as a soccer coach for both boys' and girls' teams. According to documents filed by DuPage County prosecutors, Formella tried to downplay the claims that she had a months-long relationship with the teen student, which he claimed ended with them having random sex in a classroom.
Strange Claims
Formella also claimed that the boy was smitten with her because she is "good looking." Shocking police bodycam footage showed she was sitting in her car with her husband and college sweetheart, Michael, when she was detained by the cops.
"Throughout her interview, [Formella] tried to paint [accuser] as her 'stalker' and claimed that her husband was aware," the documents read.
However, her husband, Michael, told investigators that he was hearing about the incident with the boy for the very first time. "Oddly enough, her husband told detectives that he knows nothing about [accuser] beyond his status as a soccer player," investigators wrote.
Prosecutors discovered intense diary entries on Formella's phone in which she appeared to hold the teen responsible for "ruining" her marriage, according to the documents. "I went back and screen shotted every, single, time that I said we should break up until after the wedding and after you graduated. And every single fking time you came back and convinced me it would be fine," she wrote.
"YOU ruined us. I warned you we should never have started dating a long long long fking time ago and you gas lit me and convinced me it was fine."
"I'm fking mad I let a 16 year old fk with me like that ... in the end, we both lost. You lost the girl who would have stuck with you through thick and thin," she wrote. In a later section titled "Manifestations," she expressed hope that the teen would eventually contact her to repair their relationship.
"We WILL be in each other's lives forever. We will be able to love each other while also living our own lives," she allegedly wrote.
Sexual Predator Blaming Teen
The alleged incident took place in a classroom at Downers Grove High School in December 2023, when Formella, then 28 years old, was working as a special education teacher and soccer coach.
Prosecutors say she had been coaching the teen on the soccer team and also providing him with private tutoring sessions. During that time, they reportedly began exchanging messages, which quickly turned inappropriate and ultimately led to a sexual encounter in the classroom one morning, according to court documents.
The alleged relationship came to light after the boy's mother discovered text messages on his phone from Formella, in which she expressed her love for him and referenced their sexual activity — including one message that read, "I love having sex with you."
Following her arrest, Formella told police that the teen had planted those messages on her phone in an attempt to "blackmail" her, claiming he did so "because she is good looking."
Despite her claims of being stalked, prosecutors pointed out that Formella never reported any concerning behavior to school officials or the teen's parents. Court documents also revealed that she had saved shirtless photos of the boy from his social media and had conversations with others in which she brought up his name spontaneously."
Prosecutors added that although Formella denied ever having sex with him, she eventually admitted to having a relationship with the boy. "Defendant admitted that she knew her relationship was wrong, but she was unable to stop it because she cares too much about him," documents read.
Formella told investigators that her writings were simply a way to cope with anxiety, and claimed that any mentions of sex were actually referring to her husband.
Although prosecutors argued against releasing her before trial, the court allowed her to go free under the condition that she stays off school property and has no contact with anyone under 18.
She has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and is scheduled to appear in court on April 14. Formella started working at Downers Grove in 2020 and has since been placed on paid administrative leave.
