A married Illinois special education teacher who is accused of molesting a 15-year-old student told police that the youngster is setting her up and that she was singled out because she was "good looking."
Christina Formella, a 30-year-old teacher and soccer coach at Downers Grove South High School, told police she is a innocent and a "good person" and claimed that people always target her because of her appearance, according to documents obtained by WGN9. The sporty, dirty blonde denied having sex with the teenage student and said that he accused her of having an illicit relationship with him because she "cared too much about him," according to the documents.
Dirty Teacher Tries to Blame Student
Formella, who married her college sweetheart in August of last year, reportedly sexually assaulted the youngster in December 2023 before classes began, according to DuPage County authorities.
Investigators said that she alleged that the student had hacked into her phone and used her number to send the inappropriate messages to herself as part of a "blackmail" plot.
"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," the court documents read.
According to DuPage County prosecutors, the victim's mother discovered the messages last month after purchasing him a new phone and connecting it to his iCloud account.
Formella allegedly told the teen student, "I love having sex with you," in messages reportedly sent in 2023 when she was 28, court documents show.
"I know baby I love it so much ... It feels so good ... It's so passionate ... It's so intimate ... It's so perfect," the boy reportedly responded to Formella. "I love you so so much mama."
Sex with Student
Prosecutors said that the relationship lasted until the student decided to end it. After discovering the messages, the victim's mother took him to the Downers Grove police station to report the alleged abuse.
Formella was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault. She was released under the condition that she stay away from the school and have no contact with anyone under 18.
She has also been placed on paid leave from her position.
Board of Education President Don Renner said on Monday that students are encouraged to report any suspicious or unsafe behavior to the police or school, assuring that authorities will take "all reports seriously."
Formella has denied all the allegations against her and claimed that's he never had sex with the student.
Formella obtained her teaching license in 2017, shortly after graduating from Concordia University Chicago, where she and her husband met as student-athletes—he played baseball, while she played soccer.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she has been teaching at Downers Grove South High School since 2020.
Recently released bodycam footage captures Formella in tears during her arrest on March 16, as shown in a video posted by the YouTube channel Ape Huncho. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up," she said, as she broke down in tears into her cuffed hands and pulled her knees up to her chest.
