The Illinois teacher charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old student allegedly had a “memoir” in her phone’s notes app in which she expressed anger toward the teen she is accused of abusing.
Christina Formella, 30, a special education teacher from Downers Grove, Ill., was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault against a minor, authorities say.
Police arrested Formella after the victim’s mother allegedly found text messages between her son and Formella that detailed a sexual relationship.
Court documents previously obtained by PEOPLE show explicit texts allegedly between the teacher, who was married and a soccer coach, and the student. The teacher vehemently denies this.
Police confronted Formella with the alleged texts that were found, to which she responded by claiming the victim had taken her phone in class, sent the messages to himself and then deleted them on her phone while saving them on his for “blackmail.”
“I love having sex with you,” she allegedly wrote in one text, per the court documents.
Following Formella’s arrest, police searched her phone and found what was written in the Notes app, according to a petition to deny pre-trial release obtained by PEOPLE.
In her alleged “memoir,” Formella allegedly wrote that the victim “cheated on me” and called him “disgusting,” apparently referencing the end of the alleged relationship.
“We will never ever be together again,” Formella allegedly wrote. “I’m not a second choice. I’m the best thing you’ll ever have even with all of my mistakes.”
In a section,titled “Manifestations,” Formella allegedly wrote that she expected the victim to “reach out” soon to “try to fix things between us.”
“In the meantime, I’m going to live my best life knowing he’s not the person I thought he was and that he is beneath me,” the teacher allegedly wrote.
The petition alleges that Formella later denied to detectives that she ever had sex with the victim, claiming, “everybody comes after her because she is good looking, and she is just a good person who cared too much about [the victim].”
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When confronted about the notes in her phone, Formella allegedly said it was just an outlet for her anxiety and that any references to sexual activity was referring to her husband, according to the petition.
In an interview with police cited in the petition, Formella referred to the victim as a “stalker.”
Formella worked in the special services department at Downers Grove South High School since 2020 and coached boys’ and girls’ soccer.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
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