Teacher Accused of Sex Assault Wanted Smaller 'Buffer Zone' Keeping Her from Teen. The Judge Said No

An Illinois judge has denied a request to decrease the “buffer zone” between a married teacher and the teenage student she is accused of sexually assaulting 50 times.

Arrested during a traffic stop in March, the footage of which went viral on social media, Christina Formella, 30, a former special education teacher, is charged with 55 counts of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, grooming and indecent solicitation of a child.

The judge allowed her to be released as she awaits trial on the condition that she refrain from contacting the teenage alleged victim or anyone under the age of 18, or enter Downers Grove South High School — where she’d been a teacher before resigning — DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in June.

Part of her pre-trial release includes wearing a GPS monitor that prohibits her from coming within 5,000 feet of the alleged victim’s home, school or workplace, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Formella’s attorney had asked the judge to reduce the buffer zone to 2,500 feet because the alleged victim works a mile from her home, which is in the larger buffer zone, according to the Chicago Tribune.

But during Wednesday’s hearing, which Formella attended with her husband, the judge denied the request, citing the need to ensure the safety of the alleged victim, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The alleged crimes came to light when the teen’s mother found a disturbing text thread between her son and the teacher detailing their alleged relationship, prosecutors said.

Formella was initially charged with one count of criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

In June, prosecutors unsealed dozens more counts, charging her with 55 total counts involving “previously unknown sexual abuse and assault of the student,” Berlin said in a June 17 press release.

Prosecutors allege that the sexual abuse began in January 2023, when the boy was 14, and continued through August/September 2024, Berlin said in the release.

“It is alleged that during this time, Formella sent the victim multiple text messages that were grooming in nature and that she and the victim had engaged in sexual acts approximately fifty times, both at the school and at Formella’s home, including at least forty-five times at the school.”

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Prosecutors allege that Formella kept a “memoir” on her phone’s notes app detailing her apparent anger at the teen, including writings that claimed the boy “cheated on me.”

“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.”

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Formella has denied ever having sex with the teen.

Her attorney did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The allegations against Formella “are beyond disturbing,” Berlin said in the June 17 release.

Formella is scheduled to return to court on August 4, 2025.

In a statement to PEOPLE, a spokesperson for the family of Formella said, in part: “The public shaming of women accused of sexual misconduct reflects deeply embedded patterns of misogyny that have persisted across generations. Christina has become the latest target of this troubling phenomenon — subjected to relentless personal attacks and sexist scrutiny that ignore the legal process entirely.”

The statement later added, “This isn’t just a double standard. It’s a spectacle — a public ritual that punishes women not for what they’ve done, but for how they’re perceived. Instead of discussing facts or law, public discourse fixates on Christina’s appearance, her private life, even her lipstick — as if those details bear on guilt or innocence. That’s not legal analysis. It’s voyeurism, moral judgment, and cruelty — excused by a self-serving performance of concern for an alleged victim.”

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.