On Sunday, March 16, DGS special education teacher and junior varsity boys and girls soccer coach Christina Formella was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault.
Formella was arrested at a traffic stop Sunday evening after allegations of having sexual relations with a 15-year-old student in December of 2023. The alleged abuse happened when Formella tutored the student.
This alleged incident was discovered last Friday, and Formella denied all sexual contact according to the petition.
DGS principal Arwen Lyp released an email Monday afternoon during fifth period detailing the school’s actions following Formella’s arrest.
“We informed our students and community as soon as we had permission from law enforcement to do so. The DuPage County State’s Attorney issues news releases about court issues; they held their release about the DGS teacher for 15 minutes so that we could have a head start to notify our school community. This meant that our families could read about this from us rather than hear it on the news channels,” Lyp said.
The email expressed the schools’ concern as well as the actions being taken by DGS at that time.
“We are cooperating with law enforcement to investigate the allegations. Additionally, we will contact families whose students had direct contact with Formella…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,” Lyp said.
Due back in court on April 14, Formella has hereby been placed on paid administrative leave and was ordered by Judge Joshua Dieden to not have any contact with anyone under the age of 18 and is prohibited from entering any high school.
At the District 99 board meeting Monday night, President of the Board of Education Don Renner gave a statement further expressing the schools’ urgent action toward the matter.
“We are heartbroken for the victim and also for the hundreds of students, staff, and families who trusted this teacher and feel betrayed by this terrible situation. Our top focus now is to support the victim and their family, and to ensure the well-being and safety of all of our students. We will also be contacting those families whose students have had direct contact with the teacher and coach,” Renner said.
DGS urges anyone with any more information on the matter to reach out to authorities immediately.
