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Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts new episodes out every Monday. This is Crime House.
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A suburban teacher and soccer coach pleaded not guilty today to charges she had a sexual relationship with one of her students.
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Chutzpah isn't a legal term and it certainly isn't a crime, but if it were, you could add it to the 55 counts now facing Christina Formella. She's the former Chicago area high school teacher accused of grooming a former student beginning at age 14 and having sex with him more than 50 times beginning at 15.
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You Christina? Yes. The teacher accused of having an affair with her student apparently kept a secret diary with explicit details of their relationship. The diary was discovered in the notes section section of Christina Formella's iPhone, a trusted teacher, a hidden diary, and a teenage student. Tonight, let's dive into the shocking case of Christina Formella, the teacher accused of turning the classroom into a crime scene. Hi, I'm Katie Ring, a true crime analyst, self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening, and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on the biggest cases. Every night, Nightwatch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily. Wherever you get your podcasts, leave a review and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For a video, check out our YouTube channel RimehouseDaily. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence, so everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. Tonight we're diving into the case of Christina Formella, a suburban Illinois teacher accused of sexually abusing one of her teenage students. With explosive evidence including text messages and diary entries, she now faces 55 felony charges that could put her behind bars for decades. As her next court date approaches on October 14th. One question remains. Will it be enough for a conviction?
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Let'S dive into the case of Christina Formella, a teacher who's been accused of sexually abusing a student who was entrusted into her care. This case has been making headlines everywhere, due in large part to the media circus that's been surrounding it. And if you've been on TikTok, YouTube or Instagram, I'm sure you've seen it. We're breaking down the evidence so far because as of this recording, the next court date is in just a few days. We won't give a background on the victim in this case since he he is a minor and we obviously want to respect his privacy. But we will walk you through what we know about Christina Formella and the current case against her. Christina was born on December 29, 1994. She first got her teaching license back in 2017 and started working as a special education teacher. When you think of someone who is accused of the crimes Christina is accused of, you think maybe they're an ugly weirdo. But the reality is Christina is conventionally attractive and popular among her peers. While in college, she met her now husband, Michael Formella, who is a fellow athlete. She played soccer and he was a baseball player. In 2020, Christina starts working at the Downers Grove School District in Illinois, just a little outside of Chicago. Soon after that, she started coaching soccer as well and and volunteered to coach for the girls team as well as the boys. Eventually, she and Michael buy a house near the school and in the summer of 2024, they get married. After they get back, they settle back into life as usual. Christina goes back to work at school and everything seems normal until the following Spring. In March 2025, a teenage boy that attends Downers Grove South High School broke his cell phone. And when his mom logs into his icloud to help him set up his new phone, she makes a shocking discovery. She's not trying to snoop, but when the phone starts working, texts start showing up and she can't help but notice explicit messages from a contact with no name or picture saved. Naturally, she's worried for her child. And when she confronts him, he. He confesses. The number is Christina Formella, his tutor and soccer coach. The next day, the mother and son go to the police together to report the abuse. And one day later, the police make their move. They arrest Christina on March 16th. The body cam footage from the arrest has gone viral. And in the video, Christina appears confused by the police. Stop. Let's check it out. Excuse me. Is my husband coming with? Yes. Yeah, he's taking his phone number down. We're staying in touch with him. We're just going to Downer grove though, so 10 minutes away. No, I know, but I really would prefer that my husband's with me. Of course. Am I in trouble? Like, I'm so. I'm so lost right now. Eventually, officers tell her why she's been arrested, and she tries to say she never had any kind of sexual relationship with her student. They confront her about texts that seem seemed to reference a specific incident that happened in December of 2023, when she was 28 and the victim was just 15. She'd sent a text that seemed to imply she had taken advantage of the boy during a tutoring session before school. It read, I love you so much, baby. Even though this morning was short, it was perfect. Christina eventually gets a lawyer, and it's up to the courts to decide if there's enough evidence to to hold her until a trial. The judge grants her pre trial release with numerous stipulations. She is to stay away from the victim, the high school, and anyone under 18 years of age. At this point, she's facing two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. But the more serious charge is one of criminal sexual assault, which could land her in prison for four to 15 years without the possibility of parole. And any of the charges that stick would land her on the sex offenders registry. The school put her on paid administrative leave since she hasn't been found guilty of any crimes yet. But the principal of her school is disturbed. He sends out an email to parents and teachers saying, quote, we are devastated and our community is reeling. An adult has been charged with the most significant serious of violations and trust has been broken. Our team is here to support students who are impacted by this terrible news. In early April, things get even more disturbing when news breaks that the abuse may not have been an isolated incident. More texts between Christina and her alleged victim are released. One text simply reads, I love having sex with you. Christina argues that those texts were not sent by her and claims the alleged victim had seen her enter her phone, passcode before and that he must have stolen her phone when she wasn't looking and sent himself explicit texts. He then allegedly deleted them from her phone so he could save them as blackmail. Christina says she didn't even know the texts existed. But texts weren't the only evidence against her. Christina had been keeping a sort of diary in her notes app on her phone, and many of the entries seemed to be detailing her predatory relationship with a student. In some of these entries, she seems to place the blame on the alleged victim. She wrote that she's tried to tell him they should stop seeing each other until after he graduates, but claims in the note that he gaslit her and talked her out of breaking up, as if this child were the one with the power in this relationship. Many of these entries deal with her feelings about her alleged victim apparently cheating on her. One entry read, we will never be together again. I'm not a second choice. I'm the best thing you'll ever have, even with all of my mistakes. Other entries talk about wanting him back, that she was trying to manifest that things could be fixed between them. But she wrote, quote, 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. When law enforcement questions Christina about these notes, she says her diary was where she expressed herself to help with her anxiety. She also says any sexual references in there were not referring to her victim, but rather her husband. But when police question her about the notes about cheating, she admits to having some kind of relationship with the alleged victim. But Christina says it never turned sexual. She tells police the cheating was emotional, not physical. She then claims that she knew the relationship was wrong, but that she cared about the victim too much to stop seeing him. Whatever happened, the alleged victim said they hadn't talked since February of 2024 and that he and Christina both agreed their relationship had been wrong. He seemed to think that was the end. However, her diary entry shows that in Christina's mind, it was far from over.
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Experian In November of 2024, Cristina Formella wrote in her Notes App diary that that she and her alleged victim were planning on seeing each other again, but just to get closure on their romantic relationship. Apparently she wanted to rekindle something at least platonically, because she wrote, we will be a part of each other's lives forever. While these diary entries are coming out in the media following her arrest in March 2025, Christina tries a different approach. This time she she says the alleged victim was stalking her and that her husband knew about it. However, when questioned, her husband has no idea what she's talking about. He says he only knew about the boy as being one of the players on her soccer team. All the while, the press is all over the story, including outlets like the British tabloid the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail even petitioned the court to allow a photographer to or video reporter to attend the trial. Both the prosecution and defense banded together to argue against this, though the defense objected on the grounds that the media was harassing not only Christina, but her parents and neighbors as well. They'd even had to call the police numerous times about reporters bothering them. They also worried a media circus could influence the trial. Meanwhile, the alleged victim's family objected to because he'd been doxxed at this point, even having his real name leaked online. This was a huge violation of his privacy and his family didn't want to make things worse. Finally, the prosecution argued that cameras in court would only further the drama, with the content fueling the terrible idea that just because the defendant is an attractive woman and the alleged victim a teenage boy, that that a crime like this is somehow lesser. The judge agreed with all parties and on April 18, 2025, they rule against allowing any cameras in the courtroom. Even without court pictures, though, this story was not leaving the eyes of the Internet and things were about to get even crazier. About two months later, on June 15, 2025, Christina received additional charges. Investigators had uncovered evidence that she and her alleged victim had been seeing each other for quite some time and had numerous sexual encounters. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of texts between the two to Document this. There were at least 45 separate instances of possible sexual abuse that happened both at school and at Christina's home. One text exchange discussed nearly being caught by another teacher when they had sex at school. There was even evidence to suggest she would sometimes have him turn off his phone's location sharing and bring him back to her house during school hours to sexually abuse him. Prosecutor Jacqueline McAndrew called Formella's abuse of this boy unbelievably conniving and unbelievably controlling. The abuse lasted from around January of 2023 to September of 2024 and had begun when the boy was just 14 years old. What's been made public from the diary entries also shows that she would confide in the victim about different things. In one text, Christina said her neighbor had been charged with some kind of sex offense and she was worried that if they were caught, she'd get in trouble, too. Christina would even vent about her husband to the boy. She told him she thought that her husband was having an affair with her best friend, but also that if they divorced, she'd walk away with millions. However, this idea that Christina had some grand financial scheme has been blown out of proportion. In tabloid papers, there wasn't much in evidence to suggest that she was planning anything in particular, but there was enough evidence to charge her with 20 charges each of both criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal sexual abuse, in addition to six charges each of indecent solicitation and grooming. With the three she was already facing, that's 55 total. And if convicted, she could face up to 60 years in prison.
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Foreign.
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As of this recording, Christina Fermella has pleaded not guilty to the 55 charges against her. After the additional charges were announced on June 17, 2025, the prosecution asked again for Christina to be locked up until her trial. She lives near the local high school, and they argue that other students could be in danger. The judge denies this request, although they do place electronic monitoring on all of Christina's devices. She's also given a GPS monitor to wear and order to stay 5,000ft away from her victim. Now, this is an issue because her house is within that distance from the place where her victim works, meaning she couldn't stay stay at her house. So she goes to stay with her parents. In July, Christina files to get the distance she had to keep away from the boy reduced so she can move back home. But this was denied, and it looks like she and her husband are currently selling their house. And if you're wondering what Michael Fermela thinks about his wife's 55 charges, well, it seems like he's sticking by her side. The couple was spotted walking hand in hand to Christina's recent court hearings, making it very clear he's not going anywhere. These developments in the story bring on a new wave of media attention and highlights a lot of the differences in how these cases are handled, depending on who's allegedly involved. When a woman is accused of sexual assault, especially if she's attractive, the media will often dance around the topic, not always using appropriate language, for instance, saying that it was a sexual relationship rather than calling it what it really is, sexual abuse, or using having sex instead of using the word rape. Thankfully, this case has not been doing that at all. And from day one, they've been calling the alleged crime what it is, sexual assault. And a lot of us have been finding it really refreshing because it's subverting a common double standard that women can't be predators. However, this brings up another double standard, that women in media are often declared guilty based on whether people like them or not and not based on the evidence. A spokesperson for the Firmella family said, quote, this isn't just a double standard. It's a spectacle, a public ritual that punishes women not for what they've done, but for how they're perceived. Instead of discussing facts or law, public discourse fixates on Christina's appearance, her private life, and even her lipstick, as if those details bear on guilt or innocence. With the public clamoring for updates that haven't come, there's been more and more Internet sleuthing. Rumors started and harassment of people on both sides of the case, including trying to reach out to the victim. That's where things are right now as everyone prepares for trial. Her next court date is set for October 14th, so we should be getting more information then. And we'll be sure to bring you all of the updates on this case as it develops. What did you think of today's case? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments and follow us at crimehouse24.7 on TikTok and Instagram and subscribe on YouTube @CrimeHouse Daily. For ad free listening, join Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You stay curious and I'll stay on the case. See you next time.