A married teacher accused of raping a 15-year-old student she was tutoring allegedly kept a ‘memoir’ of their relationship in her Notes app.
Last month, Christina Formella, 30, who had also been working as a boys’ and girls’ soccer coach, was taken into custody during a traffic stop for reportedly focusing on a young student at Downers Grove South High School in the vicinity of Chicago.
After the apprehension, law enforcement officers inspected her mobile phone and stumbled upon what they termed a ‘memoir’ that she had supposedly penned in her Notes app, as per a petition to oppose pre-trial release received by PEOPLE.
In it, she allegedly claimed that the teenager ‘cheated on me’ and called him ‘disgusting’ in what appears to be the aftermath of their relationship.
‘We will never ever be together again,’ Formella supposedly expressed sorrowfully. ‘I’m not a second choice. I’m the best thing you’ll ever have even with all of my mistakes.’
In a section entitled ‘Manifestations,’ she also allegedly said 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 note read, according to the court documents.
When police later questioned Formella about the note, she allegedly claimed it was jut an outlet for her anxiety and that any references to sexual activity was referring to her husband.
Christina Formella, 30, is facing sexual assault and abuse charges for allegedly raping a 15-year-old student
Police allegedly found what they described as a ‘memoir’ about her relationship with the teenager in the Notes app on her phone
But prosecutors have offered a different version of events, saying Formella had begun sending the teenager flirtatious messages using the school’s messaging system at some point when she was tutoring him – before eventually giving him her phone number so that they could play a game together.
At that point, their exchanges moved to text messages, in which the alleged pedophile told the teen she ‘loved’ him and that he was ‘perfect,’ in messages previously revealed in court.
In one exchange, Formella allegedly told the young student: ‘ I love you sooooo much baby… Even though this morning was short, it was perfect.’
‘I know baby it was perfect baby so perfect,’ the student is said to have written back.
‘I love having sex with you,’ Formella is accused of replying, in texts first reported by local CW affiliate, WGNTV.
‘I know baby I love it so much… It feels so good… It’s so passionate… It’s so intimate … It’s so perfect,’ the student replied.
As their conversations continued, Formella and the student transitioned to using FaceTime – which they continued to converse on up until she allegedly committed an act of statutory rape with the underage teen in a classroom before the school day started in December 2023.
Formella was taken into custody during a traffic stop last month
She was seen in body camera footage sitting in a police vehicle with her head in her hands as she learned she was being charged
The student’s mother only found out about the alleged incident last month, when she found the disturbing text messages between them.
Just one day after the mother spoke to the cops, officers tracked Formella down and took her into custody for the alleged rape.
In newly-released body camera footage, Formella is seen being approached by police as she sat in her car next to her husband and college sweetheart Michael.
She appeared to be confused as an officer walked up to her window and ordered her to get out, saying: ‘I know you’re confused, I’ll explain everything to you.’
‘Is she going somewhere?’ her husband asked, leading the cop to ask her to pick up her belongings and walk to the back of the vehicle.
Formella turned grey as the officer explained she was the subject of an ‘investigation’, realizing she had not been pulled over for a routine traffic stop.
The teacher looked stunned when the officer ordered her to put on handcuffs and told her she would be interviewed at the station, telling the cop: ‘I’m so scared right now.’
‘You can’t even tell me what this is about?’ she questioned.
She was with her husband, Michael, at the time of her arrest
After sitting stone faced and silent in the back of the cop car, Formella was seen in separate footage being led back into the vehicle following her interview with police.
She had learned that she was being charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault against a minor, and sat back in the vehicle with her head in her hands.
Formella repeated ‘oh my god, oh my god’ to herself as she wept from the backseat of the vehicle.
When she was then questioned about the text messages, Formella denied the charges – and instead claimed the boy had come after her ‘because she is good looking,’ according to court documents.
She also allegedly told officers she ‘cared too much about the student,’ but claimed that he had broken into her phone and sent the text messages to himself 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 court documents say.
Formella also coached boys’ and girls’ soccer at Downers Grove South High School
She has since been put on paid administrative leave, and was ordered not to have any contact with minors or enter the school (pictured)
DuPage County State Attorney Robert Berlin saying the allegations against her were ‘extremely disturbing’ and promised the community that ‘the type of abuse and behavior alleged in this case will not be tolerated.’
Still, Formella – who also coached the soccer teams at the school – was released last month on conditions including having no contact with anyone under the age of 18 and not being allowed back into the school where she has worked since 2020.
Court documents also showed that she was a coach to the student alleging the sexual assault, and after her arrest she was released on paid administrative leave.
‘We are devastated, and our community is reeling,’ Principal Arwen Lyp wrote to students and parents in a letter after her arrest.
‘An adult has been charged with the most serious of violations, and trust has been broken. Our team is here to support students who are impacted by this terrible news.’
