An Illinois special education teacher who denied allegations of having a sexual relationship with a student, instead claiming she is just “good-looking,” was slapped with an additional 52 charges in connection with the case.
Christina Formella, a 30-year-old former Downers Grove South High School special education teacher and soccer coach, had the extra charges filed against her during a status hearing Tuesday, WGN-TV reported.
Formella has now been charged with 20 counts of sexual assault, 20 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, six counts of indecent solicitation of a child and six counts of grooming, investigators in DuPage County said. The charges are all felonies.
The teacher first appeared on police radar on March 15, 2025, when the victim, a 15-year-old boy, went to the Downers Grove Police Department to report inappropriate sexual contact by his soccer coach and tutor, who authorities identified as Formella.
After a joint police and DuPage County Children’s Advocacy Center investigation, officials allege that in December 2023, Formella sexually assaulted the boy while the pair had been inside a classroom for a tutoring session ahead of the start of the school day.
The victim’s mother discovered the alleged assault while scanning her son’s text messages.
At the time, Formella allegedly sent the victim multiple text messages that were grooming in nature, and engaged in sexual acts with the victim approximately 50 times. The encounters happened both at the school and Formella’s home, including at least 45 times at the school, investigators said.
Formella reportedly began working as a special education teacher at Downers Grove South High School in August 2020 and started volunteering as a soccer coach for the boys' and girls’ teams in 2021.
The abuse continued through either August or September 2024, investigators said.
She had at first denied the assault allegations brought against her, claiming that “everybody comes after her because she is good-looking and she is just a good person who cared too much about [the victim],” according to court documents.
Board of Education President Don Renner said earlier this year that Formella is permanently banned from school grounds. The school district has been working with local law enforcement as their investigation continues.
A state-filed petition to deny Formella pre-trial release was filed Tuesday, but the judge granted her release anyway.
She is scheduled to appear in court next on August 4.
