An Illinois special education teacher and soccer coach facing sexual assault allegations said she felt “scared” as officers arrested her back in March, as seen in newly emerged police body camera footage.
Christina Formella, 30, is charged with a string of felony sexual assault charges after state prosecutors allege that she “manipulated and sexually abused a vulnerable student” at the Downers Grove South High School in Illinois, according to court documents seen by The Independent.
In the bodycam video, Formella was heard saying, “I’m so scared,” as she was placed in handcuffs by a Downers Grove police officer.
She formally denied the assault allegations 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],” as The Independent previously reported.
When apprehended on March 16, Formella appeared surprised and questioned why it was necessary to be placed in handcuffs.
“Handcuffs?” she asked while shaking her head at the officer. “I’m, like, willing to go with you,” she insisted.
“I’m like so scared,” she tells the officer who places her in cuffs.
The officer tells her that detectives need to speak to her about an ongoing investigation in which he is not involved.
Formella asks: “You can’t even give me an idea what this is about?”
The teacher first appeared on police radar on March 15, when the victim, a minor who was 15 years old at the time of the alleged assault, and his mother reported inappropriate sexual contact with his soccer coach and tutor, alleged to have been 28 at the time, to the Downers Grove Police Department.
In the video, Formella is then seen being taken to the station and asks, “Excuse me, is my husband coming with?”
“I really would prefer that my husband be with me,” she states, shaking her head angrily at the officer’s response.
“Am I in trouble? I’m so lost right now,” she tells officers while she sits cuffed.
“I’m feeling like I’m going to throw up – what’s going on?” she says later in the clip.
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 girl’s teams in 2021.
Authorities allege that in December 2023, Formella sexually assaulted a 15-year-old 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, which had transferred across from an old phone to a newly purchased phone through iCloud, according to documents.
As stated in the documents, the unknown number sent a message to the child’s phone that read, “I love having *** with you.” The 15-year-old boy later confessed to police that the number had belonged to his soccer coach.
School officials verified to The Independent that Formella was a teacher at Downers Grove South High School and was “immediately placed on administrative leave.”
She is also no longer permitted on school grounds.
The school continues to cooperate with law enforcement officials as an investigation continues.
Formella is scheduled to appear in court on April 14, 2025.
The Independent contacted DuPage County Children’s Advocacy Center, DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office and Downer’s Grove Police Officials for comment.
