Latest news with #ChristinaFormella
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Christina Formella case: What are the charges against former Downers Grove teacher
The former teacher of Downers Grove South High School, who is accused of sexually abusing a minor student, has been charged with 55 criminal counts. Christina Formella, 30, is accused of engaging in an extended, manipulative relationship with a student that allegedly began when the boy was just 14 years old. On Tuesday, she was arraigned in DuPage County Circuit Court on 52 additional charges, following the initial three counts she faced after her March arrest. ALSO READ| Christina Formella family: All on the ex-Downers Grove teacher's husband, Michael Formella The new charges include multiple counts of criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse, indecent solicitation of a child, and grooming. Prosecutors say Formella used her authority and access as a teacher to create a damaging and coercive relationship with the boy, who later came forward with his mother to report the abuse to Downers Grove police. Community High School District 99 said Formella resigned from her position at the school and voluntarily surrendered her teaching license on Monday, the day before her court appearance. Prosecutor Jaclyn McAndrew told Judge Mia McPherson that the abuse lasted nearly two years and that Formella had sex with the student 'at least 45 times, including at school, during school hours and at her home.' '(Formella) knew what she was doing was wrong,' McAndrew said, adding that the former teacher 'is unbelievably conniving and unbelievably controlling.' McAndrew also told the court that Formella manipulated the boy into turning off the location tracking on his phone and made him feel guilty and ashamed about their interactions. She argued that Formella posed an ongoing threat to the victim and the community, especially since she lives near the high school. McAndrew pushed for the judge to revoke Formella's bail and detain her under Illinois' SAFE-T Act, saying, 'no conditions could mitigate the threat that Formella poses.' But Judge Mia McPherson denied that request. While she acknowledged the allegations as 'horrifying in nature,' 'shocking,' and 'appalling,' the judge concluded that the general public was not at risk and that further restrictions could be placed to protect the alleged victim. ALSO READ| Who is Christina Formella? Illinois special education teacher, 30, arrested for allegedly molesting 15-year-old student Formella is now required to wear a GPS ankle monitor, surrender her passport, and cannot leave Illinois without the court's permission. Now, if convicted, Christina Formella faces up to 60 years in prison, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Illinois teacher indicted on 52 additional charges in student sexual abuse case
An Illinois grand jury has filed an indictment against an Illinois high school teacher on 52 additional charges relating to the alleged sexual assault and abuse of a student in 2023. Video released in April showed 30-year-old Christina Formella getting pulled over during a traffic stop and being taken into custody after being charged with various sex crimes for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student in 2023. Formella had been accused of sexually assaulting the boy in a classroom during 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 cellphone and then contacted police, prosecutors said. During Formella's first court appearance March 17, she was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault. High School Teacher Charged With Sexually Assaulting Former Teen Student At Her Home On Tuesday, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin announced that Formella had been indicted on 52 additional counts involving previously unknown sexual abuse and assault of the student. Read On The Fox News App The grand jury indicted Formella on 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, all felony charges. Berlin's office said in a news release March 15 the victim, who was 15 at the time of the alleged assault, went to the Downers Grove Police Department with his parents to report inappropriate sexual contact allegedly committed by the boy's tutor and soccer coach, who was later identified as Formella. Married Ohio School Administrator, 43, Learns Sentence For Sex With Teen Student In Office The Downers Grove Police Department and DuPage County Children's Advocacy Center opened an investigation, which led to the initial charges. A further investigation that involved interviews with the victim in which he alleged additional sexual abuse by Formella, determined the sexual abuse began in January 2023 and continued through August or September 2024. During that time period, Berlin's office said, Formella allegedly sent the boy multiple text messages that were "grooming in nature." The investigation also found the victim and Formella allegedly engaged in sexual acts about 50 times, both at the school and at Formella's home. The allegations claim the two engaged in sex acts at least 45 times at the school. Alabama Kindergarten Teacher, 49, Accused Of Enticing Teen Into Bathroom For Sexual Encounter "The new allegations against Ms. Formella, including the allegations of grooming and that the abuse lasted nearly two years, are beyond disturbing," Berlin said. "I thank the victim in this case for having the courage to come forward during what I imagine is an extremely difficult time for him. "I also thank the DuPage County Children's Center, particularly Investigator George Fencl, as well as Assistant State's Attorneys Jaclyn McAndrew and Michael Fisher for their work not only in this case but for their continued efforts protecting our children." Formella appeared in court Tuesday morning for a status hearing, where the state filed a second petition to deny her pretrial release, though Judge Mia McPherson denied the request. Her next appearance is scheduled for Aug. 4. Bodycam footage of Formella's arrest showed her appearing confused when police asked her to exit the vehicle during a traffic stop. They then arrested her and placed her in the back of a police vehicle, where she asked questions about her detention. Formella could be heard sobbing in the back seat of a police vehicle and asked for her husband, her childhood sweetheart whom she married last year, according to reports. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up," she said in the March 16 video, continuing 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 that led to the December 2023 sexual incident. Fox News Digital's Michael Dorgan contributed to this article source: Illinois teacher indicted on 52 additional charges in student sexual abuse case
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Staggering number of times glamorous teacher is accused of sleeping with student as husband stands by her side amid fresh claims
A glamorous teacher accused of grooming an underage student allegedly slept the teen boy at least 50 times. Christina Formella, 30, faced an Illinois court on Tuesday as she was hit with 52 new charges, supported by her loyal husband Michael, who has stood by her side throughout the scandal. The teacher and soccer coach is now accused of additional counts of sexual assault, indecent solicitation of a child, grooming and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. According to the new complaint, Formella groomed a 15-year-old male student and then had sex with him at least 45 times at Downers Grove South High School while classes were in session, and another five times at her home. She was the boy's soccer coach and tutor. The alleged abuse began in January 2023 and continued through at least August 2024. It was only discovered when the student's mother found disturbing messages between the two when she logged into her son's iCloud account. 'The new allegations against Ms. Formella, including the allegations of grooming and that the abuse lasted nearly two years, are beyond disturbing,' State Attorney Robert Berlin said. 'I thank the victim in this case for having the courage to come forward during what I image is an extremely difficult time for him.' Prosecutor Jaclyn McAndrew told the court that the new evidence suggests Formella first began contacting the boy when he was just 14 years old. The contact, McAndrew said, lasted far longer than prosecutors initially believed when she was initially charged. Formella was arrested in March during a traffic stop outside of Chicago and initially charged with just three criminal counts. She has pleaded not guilty. 'She is unbelieving conniving, and she is unbelieving controlling,' McAndrew told the judge, according to the Daily Herald. McAndrew claimed Formella had told the boy she did not intend to marry her husband, and that he was having an affair with her best friend. Formella allegedly told him that her husband would leave her and she would come into millions of dollars. It is also alleged that she was texting the boy while on a vacation with her husband in Italy. Shocking police bodycam footage captured the moment she was arrested as she sat in her car next to her husband. DuPage County prosecutors claimed that during her police interview, Formella tried to portray her victim as a boy obsessed with a teacher because she's 'good looking' and claimed her husband was aware of the situation. 'Throughout her interview, [Formella] tried to paint [the accuser] as her 'stalker' and claimed that her husband was aware,' prosecutors said in court documents obtained by the New York Post. However, her husband told investigators it was the first time he had heard about a situation involving the boy. 'Oddly enough, her husband told detectives that he knows nothing about [the accuser] beyond his status as a soccer player,' prosecutors said. Formella allegedly sent shockingly lewd messages to the boy, telling him how much she 'loves him' and 'loves having sex' with him. The teacher has maintained that she never sexually assaulted the student and that 'everybody comes after her because she is good-looking,' according to court documents. She confessed to police that she 'cared too much' about the student, but claimed that he broke into her phone and sent the text messages as blackmail. 'She claimed that 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. Formella's next court appearance is scheduled for August 4, 2025.
Fox News
6 hours ago
- Fox News
Illinois teacher indicted on 52 additional charges in student sexual abuse case
An Illinois grand jury has filed an indictment against an Illinois high school teacher on 52 additional charges relating to the alleged sexual assault and abuse of a student in 2023. Video released in April showed 30-year-old Christina Formella getting pulled over during a traffic stop and being taken into custody after being charged with various sex crimes for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student in 2023. Formella had been accused of sexually assaulting the boy in a classroom during 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 cellphone and then contacted police, prosecutors said. During Formella's first court appearance March 17, she was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault. On Tuesday, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin announced that Formella had been indicted on 52 additional counts involving previously unknown sexual abuse and assault of the student. The grand jury indicted Formella on 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, all felony charges. Berlin's office said in a news release March 15 the victim, who was 15 at the time of the alleged assault, went to the Downers Grove Police Department with his parents to report inappropriate sexual contact allegedly committed by the boy's tutor and soccer coach, who was later identified as Formella. The Downers Grove Police Department and DuPage County Children's Advocacy Center opened an investigation, which led to the initial charges. A further investigation that involved interviews with the victim in which he alleged additional sexual abuse by Formella, determined the sexual abuse began in January 2023 and continued through August or September 2024. During that time period, Berlin's office said, Formella allegedly sent the boy multiple text messages that were "grooming in nature." The investigation also found the victim and Formella allegedly engaged in sexual acts about 50 times, both at the school and at Formella's home. The allegations claim the two engaged in sex acts at least 45 times at the school. "The new allegations against Ms. Formella, including the allegations of grooming and that the abuse lasted nearly two years, are beyond disturbing," Berlin said. "I thank the victim in this case for having the courage to come forward during what I imagine is an extremely difficult time for him. "I also thank the DuPage County Children's Center, particularly Investigator George Fencl, as well as Assistant State's Attorneys Jaclyn McAndrew and Michael Fisher for their work not only in this case but for their continued efforts protecting our children." Formella appeared in court Tuesday morning for a status hearing, where the state filed a second petition to deny her pretrial release, though Judge Mia McPherson denied the request. Her next appearance is scheduled for Aug. 4. Bodycam footage of Formella's arrest showed her appearing confused when police asked her to exit the vehicle during a traffic stop. They then arrested her and placed her in the back of a police vehicle, where she asked questions about her detention. Formella could be heard sobbing in the back seat of a police vehicle and asked for her husband, her childhood sweetheart whom she married last year, according to reports. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up," she said in the March 16 video, continuing 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 that led to the December 2023 sexual incident.
CBS News
9 hours ago
- CBS News
Downers Grove South teacher facing 52 more charges for sexually assaulting, grooming student
A Downers Grove South High School teacher previously charged with sexually assaulting her 15-year-old student is now facing 52 more charges related to that boy. Christina Formella, 30, was charged with criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse in March after the teenager and his mother reported alleged "inappropriate sexual conduct." She was granted pre-trial release but was banned from entering Downers Grove South High School, where she was both a teacher and soccer coach, and is not allowed to have any contact with anyone under the age of 18. Tuesday the DuPage County State's Attorney announced 52 additional charges involving alleged previously unknown sexual abuse and assault of the same student. Formella is now facing 20 counts of criminal sexual assault, 20 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, six counts of indecent solicitation of a child and six counts of grooming, all felonies. Prosecutors said an interview with the victim in April led to the disclosure of more alleged sexual abuse by Formella. Prosecutors say the abuse began in January 2023 and continued through August and September of 2024. Formella allegedly sent multiple texts grooming the boy, and allegedly said she and the victim had engaged in sexual activity approximately 50 times both at the school and at her home. Prosecutors say the majority of the sexual abuse took place at the school. Formella appeared in court Tuesday morning on the new charges and was once again granted pre-trial release. She is due back in court on Aug. 4.
