Newly released bodycam footage shows the shock and emotional unraveling of an Illinois school teacher who was arrested for allegedly molesting a 15-year-old student last month.
The video shows Christina Formella, 30, being pulled over during a traffic stop last week and being taken into custody where she’s been charged with various sex crimes for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student in 2023.
Formella is accused of sexually assaulting the boy in a classroom for a tutoring session before class began at Downers Grove South High School in December 2023. The victim’s mother discovered the alleged assault when looking through her son’s text message thread on his cell phone and then contacted police, prosecutors said.
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In the bodycam footage, Formella seems confused when police ask her to exit her vehicle.
They then arrest her and place her in the back of a police vehicle where she asks questions about her detention.
Formella can be heard sobbing in the back seat of a police vehicle and asking for her husband, her childhood sweetheart whom she married last year, per reports.
“I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” she said in the March 16 video and continues to cry in the back seat.
Formella, who was also a soccer coach, began tutoring the alleged victim after he broke his collarbone, and they began messaging each other on a school platform, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. The pair then allegedly exchanged provocative texts, followed by FaceTime chats which led to the December 2023 sexual incident.
“I love you so so much mama,” the boy allegedly sent Formella in one text.
“I love you sooooo much baby… Even though this morning was short, it was perfect,” the teacher, then 28, allegedly responded.
They both later acknowledged to each other that what they did was wrong, and they never had sex again, per the documents. They spoke for the last time in February 2024.
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Formella denied having sex with the minor and claimed the student had broken into her phone and used her number to send himself inappropriate text messages to blackmail her, according to the New York Post.
She reportedly told investigators that “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 obtained by WGN.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said the allegations against Formella are “extremely disturbing.”
“It is alleged that she used her position of trust and authority as a tutor and a coach to sexually assault a minor student. The type of abuse and behavior alleged in this case will not be tolerated,” Berlin said.
“The safety and well-being of our children remain our highest priority, and we will take all necessary actions to ensure that anyone engaging in this type of conduct is held accountable.”
Formella has been charged with one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, one count of criminal sexual assault and one count of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.
She has been released from custody on the condition she does not enter Downers Grove South High School and does not make contact with anyone under the age of 18. She is scheduled to appear in court on April 14.
The state’s attorney’s office said the defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
At her appearance, the Court denied the state’s motion to detain Formella pre-trial and released her with conditions including no entry into Downers Grove South High School and no contact with anyone under the age of eighteen.
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