Christina Formella, 30, was arrested on Sunday and charged with sëxual assault and abuse for having an inappropriate relationship with a then 15-year-old student in December 2023.
The boy came forward over the weekend when his mother bought him a new phone and discovered text messages between the two.
The shocking messages revealed the student and teacher had been in a relationship and investigators said they discovered additional evidence corroborating the claim.
Prosecutors alleged Formalla and the victim were in a classroom at Downers Grove South High School for a tutoring session before school when she allegedly sëxually assaulted him.
However, during her initial police interview, Formella denied ever having sëx with the teenager.
‘[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],’ according to court documents.
When confronted with the text messages, Formella claimed the teen broke into her phone and sent them to himself to blackmail her.
In her words, ‘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 documents said.
Authorities have not released any further information about the alleged sëxual assault, but DuPage County State’s Attorney has called the allegations ‘extremely disturbing.’
‘It is alleged that she used her position of trust and authority as a tutor and a coach to sëxually assault a minor student,’ he claimed, noting: ‘The type of abuse and behavior alleged in this case will not be tolerated.’
