Ex-Downers Grove South teacher facing 52 new sex abuse charges

A former Downers Grove South High School teacher accused of sexually abusing a student is facing 52 new charges. Christina Formella was arraigned Tuesday on 20 counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault, plus multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, indecent solicitation of a child and six counts of grooming. The DuPage County grand jury indicted her on the additional charges in May, but the indictment was sealed until Tuesday morning.

Judge Mia McPherson denied prosecutor Jaclyn McAndrew’s petition to detain Formella pretrial, saying the new information was not sufficient evidence that there were not any conditions she could impose to mitigate the threat Formella posed to the student. She did add several conditions, including having pretrial services install monitoring software on all Formella’s electronic devices and ordering her to wear a GPS monitor to prevent her from approaching the student at his home, school or workplace.

“While this case is horrific in nature — it’s shocking, it’s appalling, it’s garnering lots of attention — I do believe under the SAFE-T Act I am tied to whether there are any conditions I can set to mitigate the risk she poses to [the boy] right now,” McPherson said.

McAndrew said the new evidence shows Formella started contacting the complainant when he was 14 years old and that the contact lasted about two years, longer than was thought when Formella was first charged in March. The initial charges stated that she and the boy had sexual intercourse in her classroom at the school. McAndrew said Tuesday that the new charges allege that the abuse and assaults also happened at Formella’s home in Downers Grove, near the high school.

If convicted of all charges, Formella faces a sentence of at least 60 years in prison, McAndrew said.

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