‘Memoir’ that married teacher accused of raping her student, kept in her phone guides cops in nailing the high school soccer coach

The special education teacher from Downers Grove, Illinois, is charged with two counts aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count criminal sexual assault against a minor 

Christina Formella, 30, is accused of raping a 15-year-old student she was coaching and allegedly kept a ‘memoir’ of their relationship in her Notes app

A day after teen’s mother uncovered alleged affair, including the disturbing text messages she spoke to the cops, who then tracked the teacher

Formella who also served as a boys’ and girls’ soccer coach at Downers Grove South High School outside of Chicago, was arrested last month during a traffic stop

Police found what they described as a ‘memoir’ about her relationship with the teenager in the Notes app on her phone

Questioned, she allegedly claimed notes were just an outlet for her anxiety and that any references to sexual activity was referring to her husband

She’s since been placed on paid administrative leave and ordered not to have any contact with minors or enter the school

Christina Formella, [photo], a married teacher is facing sexual assault and abuse charges for allegedly raping a 15-year-old student at Downers Grove South High School outside of Chicago. The special education teacher from Downers Grove, Illinois, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault against a minor. 

Charging documents state that a married female teacher accused of raping a 15-year-old student she was tutoring allegedly kept a salacious ‘memoir’ of their relationship in her Notes app.
Academic faculty member Christina Formella, 30, who also served as a boys’ and girls’ soccer coach at Downers Grove South High School outside of Chicago, was arrested last month during a traffic stop after allegedly targeting a young student at the school. 
The special education teacher from Downers Grove, Illinois, was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and one count of criminal sexual assault against a minor.
Formella was in the company of her husband Michael during the traffic stop. Following her arrest, police searching her phone found what they described as a ‘memoir’ she had allegedly written in her Notes app, according to a petition to deny pre-trial release.  
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 allegedly laments.
‘I’m not a second choice. I’m the best thing you’ll ever have even with all of my mistakes.’

Questioned by police after who found what they described as a ‘memoir’ about her relationship with the teenager in the Notes app on her phone, she allegedly claimed it was just an outlet for her anxiety and that any references to sexual activity was referring to her husband

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.
Prosecutors however have said that Formella initiated the affair when began sending the teenager flirtatious messages using the school’s messaging system at some point when she was tutoring him. Eventually she gave the boy 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.’ 

‘ I love you sooooo much baby… Even though this morning was short, it was perfect.’ Formella’s alleged improper contact and communications with the minor was exposed during a traffic stop last month

Those messages had previously been submitted 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. The student was 15 while the teacher was 28 when the alleged sexual abuse began.

‘Oh my god, oh my god’ – Police bodycam footage captured the moment Formella sitting in a police cruiser, holds her head in both hands as she learned she was being arrested for the alleged rape of a minor

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.   

Christina was with her husband Michael Formella, [photo], 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.
The petition alleges that Formella instead told detectives that she never had sex with the victim.

Christina Formella was a member of the academic faculty at Downers Grove South High School, as well as serving as coach for both the boys and girls soccer teams

She told detectives “everybody comes after her because she is good looking, and she is just a good person who cared too much about [the victim].”
She also allegedly told officers the student had broken into her phone and fabricated the messages to himself as tool for 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.

She has since been put on paid administrative leave at Downers Grove South High School [photo], outside of Chicago. She’s also ordered not to have any contact with minors or enter the school

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.’
Formella who has worked at the school since 2020 and has coached the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams since 2021. Court documents also showed that she was a coach to the student alleging the sexual assault.
At her initial court appearance, a judge denied prosecutors’ motion to detain her and she was released on conditions include having no contact with anyone under the age of 18. She’s also barred from school grounds.
She has since been placed on paid administrative leave by the school district