Christina Formella, 30, a special education teacher at Downers Grove South High School in Illinois, was arrested on March 16, 2025, and charged with sexually assaulting one of her 15-year-old students. The arrest came after an investigation that was carried out over several months following the discovery of lewd texts between the student and Formella by the student’s mother. The texts, on which the charges were made, were migrated from the student’s old phone to a new one using iCloud.
Christina Formella started teaching at Downers Grove South High School in August 2020. She had acquired a teaching license in 2017 and was well known as a nurturing teacher and coach. Apart from being a teacher, Formella worked as a volunteer coach to the girls‘ and boys‘ soccer teams from 2021. She had accumulated respect from the school faculty and staff over the years, and as a special education teacher, she was given immense power as well as access to vulnerable students.
The abuse is said to have started in December 2023 when the victim was being tutored and coached by Formella. The investigation was initiated when the mother of the victim discovered sexually explicit messages between the victim and Formella on his phone. The messages had been sent from the phone of Formella to the victim’s phone, and the mother was alerted and called the authorities.
Formella denied the charge, claiming she was being blackmailed by the student. She said the student had opened up her phone without her permission, forwarded the messages to himself, and removed the proof from her phone but preserved it on his phone as leverage.
She was arrested as she drove home from work along with her husband, an encounter captured on bodycam video. In the video, Formella looks clearly upset, weeping and complaining of nausea. When she was originally pulled over, she was told by the officers she was being put under investigation and did not otherwise know she was being arrested until they were taking her to the station. She was accused of aggravated criminal sexual assault and abuse, and law enforcement officials denounced her actions. DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin described the allegations as “extremely disturbing,” emphasizing that such abuse would not be tolerated. Formella was released from custody on the condition that she refrain from entering school grounds and avoid interactions with individuals under the age of 18.
She defends herself by claiming that she is the target of an ambush. She says the student tampered with her phone to invent the messages, claiming people frequently target her because she is good-looking and tends to be excessively friendly. Her defence argues she is being unjustly blamed because she is good-looking and a nice person.
The public reacted differently to the allegations, and some expressed sympathy as she claimed to be the victim, while others are unable to accept the way she defended herself due to the extent of the allegations.
Formella is on paid leave from Downers Grove South High School until the investigation determines otherwise. In addition to suspending teaching assignments, the school also placed restrictions on access to campus. The district assured full cooperation with law enforcement authorities throughout the investigation.
Reacting to the incident, the public’s response had been varied. Some expressed fears of damage to the reputation of the school, while others urged closer scrutiny of relations between students and teachers to avoid recurrence of the event.
Christina Formella also risks severe legal ramifications, including aggravated criminal sexual assault. She’s due to appear in court on April 14, 2025. She would be facing possible lengthy incarceration and sex offender registration upon being convicted.
