Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - TEACHER FACING ALLEGED STUDENT SEX ABUSE CLAIMS HUSBAND KNEW STUDENT WAS STALKER

Episode Date: May 17, 2025

Christina Formella, accussed of molesting a 15-year-old student claims the boy was a “stalker” and that new her husband knew.  Her husband,  however, says  he was totally in the dark about the boy.  The  case unfolded after a Downers Grove, Illinois, mom comes across disturbing text messages while setting up her 15-year-old son’s new iPhone using a backup from his iCloud account. The contents prompt her to take her son straight to the police. It appears the teen is discussing a sexual encounter with a love interest—his married, 30-year-old teacher, Christina Formella. The student informs the police that Coach Formella began sending him flirty messages on the school’s chat system after she became his tutor in the fall of 2023. He explains that their conversations shifted to text after the teacher provided him with her phone number so they could play a game together. Records show numerous FaceTime calls between the two, with the victim stating that their relationship outside of school culminated in a rape in December. Formella denies raping the boy or having a romantic relationship with him, asserting that she is a “good person” and that “everybody” comes after her because of her looks. She admits to developing a close relationship with the student and claims that she “cares too much about him,” but simultaneously labels him a stalker. Formella insists she did not send the texts, arguing that her kindness towards the boy allowed him to break into her unattended phone, send the texts to himself, and then delete them from her phone to later use as blackmail. Joining Nancy Grace today: Eric Faddis - Partner at Varner Faddis Elite Legal, Former Felony Prosecutor and Current Criminal Defense and Civil Litigation Attorney; Instagram: @e_fad @varnerfaddis; TikTok: @varnerfaddis Dr. Shari Schwartz  - Forensic Psychologist (specializing in Capital Mitigation and Victim Advocacy) and Author: "Criminal Behavior" and "Where Law and Psychology Intersect: Issues in Legal Psychology;" X: @TrialDoc Brian Fitzgibbons  - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security [leads a team of investigators specializing in locating missing persons]; Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security Scott Eicher -  A Founding Member of the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team (C.A.S.T); Historical Cellular Analysis Expert; Former FBI agent of 22 years; Former Police Officer and Homicide Detective with Norfolk,Virginia, Police Dept. Currently with Precision Cellular Analysis,Handling Criminal, Defense and Civil Case Anna Sonoda - Child Sex Abuse/Grooming Expert, Clinical Social Worker, Former Therapist for Convicted Sex Offenders, and Author of "Duck Duck Groom" Sydney Sumner - CrimeOnline Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Well, I believe I've heard it all. A female teacher's bombshell claim about her own husband. This as she has been charged with a sex attack on a teen boy student. Now she's dragging her husband into this. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for being with us. You heard me. A married Illinois school teacher accused of sex assaulting a teen boy she was tutoring tells cops the boy was her, quote, stalker and that her husband knew all about the boy's, quote, obsession. Well, her behavior and her text messages seem to tell a very different story. Okay, what do we know about the incident involving teacher Christina Formella, age 30, old enough to know better. Christina Formella is a Concordia University grad and former soccer team star. Now, she's a special ed teacher and soccer coach at Downers Grove High School in Illinois.

But Formella's world comes crashing down when a dark secret is revealed at a routine traffic stop. A dark secret. I don't know that I would call alleged sex abuse on a child, a minor that is your student. I don't know that I would call that a secret. I think more appropriately, I would call it a felony, but caught on tape, the married special ed teacher for Pete's sake, they were practically still on their honeymoon. They'd only been married less than a year, I believe. Caught on body cam, threatening to throw up. Well, after I learned about this case and investigated it myself, I want to throw up too. But let's take a look. A lot of people have claimed she is so-called glamorous special ed teacher. She's not glamorous to me.

I have prosecuted so many child rape and child sex abuse cases. She looks like she's straight from hell to me. On police body cam. Hey, how you doing? Hi. Officer Guzman with Downers Girl. Do you have your license on you? Yes.

Tonight? Yeah, I'm going to explain. I'm sure you're confused. I'll explain it to you. You're running through a double door. You're Christina? Yes. Okay, Christina, do me a favor.

Can you step out of the car for me? I know you're confused. I'll explain everything to you. You don't have anything on you? You can grab whatever you need. Whatever I need? Yeah, whatever you need. Your phone, your purse, go ahead and grab it.

Is she going somewhere? Yeah, we're going to explain everything to you guys. Go ahead and grab it. We're not going anywhere right now. Of course, of course, yeah. I don't understand what's going on here. I get it, yeah. You can go grab your things.

Can he come with me? Yes, yes. You stay there for right now. I was there to stay there, but yes, you can. Uh-uh. Straight out to Brian Fitzgibbons joining us, director operations, USPA nationwide security, leading a team of investigators every single day. Why are they being so solicitous to her? She is charged with molesting a minor, a teen boy, and I believe still lying about it, claiming it only happened once. Okay. But that said, Fitzgibbons, what happened to

license registration? Why are they saying, I'm sure you're confused. I'll explain everything. You're Christina. What are they on a first name basis? So here's the deal, Nancy. I believe that that police officer actually did a very excellent job with this contact with Christina Formella. Number one, he secured that cell phone, which is going to be a key piece of evidence in this case. And he got that without a fight from her. So he deescalated the situation and secured the cell phone, which is going to be the number one probative piece of evidence here. Fitzgibbons, I actually agree with you. I agree with you. However, I believe they're being overly solicitous to what police say, what prosecutors say is a child molester.

Fitzgibbons, you're not bending over backwards for for Mella, Christina for Mella, because she's attractive. Are you? You know, it has been argued in the past by other teachers now convicted of child abuse that they were too pretty for jail. You're not on that boat, are you? Certainly not, Nancy. What I saw there was the officer doing everything to make sure he preserved that key piece of evidence.

I think he knew exactly what he was doing here and was doing everything he could. Well, I hope you're right. Christina Formella, special ed teacher, now charged with child sex abuse with a student, a teen boy just married by the way. Oh, here she'm gonna throw up. You want a bag? That's cool.

Alright. Shana, can you grab a bag out of there? Hey, can you get like a bag just in case she gets nauseous? Yeah. I don't know, do we have any of those MSS bags laying around the spot? I figure she'll do something better than nothing. Here, you stay with her all the way. Yeah.

I think I'm going to hyperventilate right now watching her. Hold on just a moment. To Scott Eicher joining me, he's joining us later regarding a cell phone analysis, but he was the founding member, a founding member of the FBI cellular analysis survey team. But for this question, former police officer, homicide detective with Norfolk, Virginia Police Department, 12 years. Scott, I thought they were being, again, overly solicitous to her going, you need a tissue? Do you need a vomit bag? But I assume you've been in the back of a cruiser before, Scott Eicher? Well, I've been in the back of a cruiser, but not in her position. You can see what's starting to come over her.

She's starting to realize what she's done and she's been caught. And that would make me nauseous, too, if I was in her position. And I can see that. Well put. You mean she's not sorry she did it. She just doesn't want to go to Hillfort. I was getting to the vomit bag. They have to work in that cruiser.

I have been there when patrol men and patrol women have to literally hose out the back seat of a cruiser. There's drugs, there's vomit, there's urine, there's feces, there's spit where they try to spit at the officers. The back seat is like hazmat to the max. So that's why I believe they're offering her a vomit bag, you know, like the kind you get on a plane. Oh, I definitely agree. And I've had to clean out my cruiser numerous times for those same reasons you talked about. And that smell never goes away, I swear, at the back of the cruisers. No, it never, ever goes away. Cops drive with the windows down.

It doesn't help. Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we're learning right now. But I want to see that body cam one more time. Now, you see her threatening to throw up. You see her seemingly hyperventilating, crying. Let's listen to it one more time. Sure you don't want a tissue or something? I'm feeling I'm gonna throw up. A bag? Yes please. Alright. Shana, can you grab like a bag out of there? Hey, can you get like a bag just in case she gets nauseous?

Yeah. I don't know, do we have any of those MSS bags like laying around the spot? I figure she'll do something better than nothing. Here, you stay with her all the way. Eric Faddis, really? Well, Nancy, in looking at her reaction there, one could argue it is consistent with someone who was just caught for something they did. On the other hand, when you look at it, she's confused.

She's hyperventilating. She's crying. She's saying she's nauseous. All of those things could also be consistent with someone who has been accused of something horrendous and who didn't do it. So I'm not sure we could really draw any firm conclusions from that video. Faddis, she hasn't been told yet of what she is accused. So that argument just went right down. Technical legal phrase, the crapper.

OK, so she's not hyperventilating because they just told her what she's accused of. She hasn't been told yet. So take another swing at the ball. Even if she wasn't apprised of the exact nature of the allegations, being in the back of a cop car is distressing, surely. And even more so if a person did not do anything criminal and they're, you know, sort of befuddled about what in the world is happening to me. You know, I'm not taking a personal position on the facts, but I'm just saying that reaction has multiple interpretations. Okay. Even if she had been at that juncture told why she was arrested,

you still are standing by your story. I'm just saying in terms of a human reaction to a very distressing situation that can be interpreted multiple ways. And those expressions that we're seeing, those outward behaviors are consistent with someone who has been caught for doing something horrible. And they're also consistent with someone who is being accused of something she didn't do. And so I just think at this juncture, there's just no solutions that can be drawn. Eric Faddis, question. If you had been accused of child molestation, because I'm not quite sure in this series of body cam reactions where she knows she's been accused of where she doesn't. If you've been accused of child molestation, you wouldn't say I've never done that in my life.

That did not happen. I want a lawyer. You wouldn't say that. Me personally, as a seasoned attorney, I absolutely would say that. But, you know, a 30-year-old special education teacher and soccer coach, perhaps that is just not front of mind to her. You're acting like she's a 12-year-old little girl in the fifth grade that's never seen law and order. You're saying, oh, she's just 30 years old, special ed teacher. To be a special ed teacher, you have to go to four years of school, four years of college, plus all sorts of certifications. This is an educated person that's been out in the workforce for years. But you're telling me she's so naive. She doesn't know to say, I didn't do that. I want a lawyer. The thing is, Nancy,

there's no playbook for how to respond when a person is accused of something horrible. Some people might react one way, whereas others might react a different way. And I'm just, you know, in looking at this without some sort of psychological evaluation, it's just hard to say exactly where that reaction is coming from. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. DuPage County prosecutors state that during Christina Formella's police interview, she tried her best to portray the boy victim as being obsessed with her because she's, quote, good looking. Her words, not mine. She don't look good to me.

She looks like a defendant. She also claimed her husband was very aware of the situation. Throughout her police interview, she tries and tries to paint the boy as the stalker and that the husband was well aware of it. Now, the husband, Michael Formella, tells investigators it was the first time he had heard anything about the boy. That he knows nothing about the alleged victim, beside the fact that he's a soccer player. Ruh-roh! Okay, who is this woman, Christina Formella?

Listen. Christina Formella is a special education teacher and soccer coach at Downers Grove South High School, a proud Mustang since 2020. Formella graduated from Concordia University three years earlier as an accomplished student athlete, playing as a starter in 49 soccer matches during her college career. That's where Christina meets her now-husband, also a student-athlete, a pitcher on the baseball team. For Christina's senior year, they share the number 22. The happy couple ties the knot in a gorgeous summer ceremony August of 2024. Straight out to Crime Stories investigative reporter, Sydney Sumner. Sydney, tell me how the whole thing unfolded. What is she charged with? How did the whole thing start?

Is it true? According to police, these are all just allegations. She has not been proven guilty. She's still presumed innocent under the law. According to police, she began flirting with a teen boy, one of her students, and that continued on a school app. That's correct, Nancy. So a mother of a Downers Grove student went to police when she was setting up his new iPhone. She discovered these messages that weren't saved on his old phone, but to his iCloud account.

And she discovered these messages seemingly discussing a sexual encounter with his teacher, Christina Formella. So the boy is rushed down to the police station. He tells officers that this started out as some innocent flirting. I say the word innocent, but that's obviously not innocent in this situation, but some flirting over the school messaging app. So the school has their own specific messaging system, and that's where they started communicating

once Christina Formella became this boy's tutor, in addition to being his soccer coach on the field. So these messages then progressed to having her phone number because she wanted to play an iMessage game with him. So she gives out her phone number. Sydney, Sydney, wait a minute. So the teacher wants to play what? You know those games in your iMessages? So on an iPhone, you can start a text conversation and play pool ball or something. So that's what she suggested to this teen boy and gave him her phone number. So now they're texting

and also FaceTiming. There's records of numerous FaceTime calls in between this teen and the teacher. And he said that culminated in a rape in December of 2023 during what should have been a before school tutoring session. So they're in her classroom. She shuts the door and there is a sexual encounter. Okay. Sydney, I don't like what you just said. So you remind me of so many defendants that would say we would. I had one judge who was the greatest judge ever, oldest judge in the courthouse. And therefore, he wanted to maintain his court calendar. He wanted to be on trial every other week to prove he was fit and he was fit.

All right. Dr. I mean, judge Luther Alverson, but we would have, um, plea negotiations with me, my investigator, Ernest, the defendant and his defense lawyer to see if the case could be worked out. FYI, it usually went to trial. That said the lawyer and the defendant would always act like Ms. Grace, I caught a little burglary charge. Like somebody threw it and they just caught it. Okay.

You just said she shuts the door and a child molestation happened. Didn't you leave something out, Sydney Sumner? Yes, Nancy. We're calling that a rape. That's exactly what it is. It's a statutory rape at least and at what it is. It's a statutory rape, at least. And at most, it is a sexual assault. This woman, this adult, should never have come on to this child in any way, shape, or form, especially a teacher. This is a professional relationship. This

should be a trusted relationship. And the school said it perfectly. It's broken trust. Sorry, back over here. So we do have an investigation going on. We have to talk to you about it at the police department, okay? So we're going to explain everything to you there. It's not my investigation. I don't know the full details. We do have to bring you there, though, okay? So I do have to put you in handcuffs and bring you to the police department.

Just a downer. Fantastic. Yes, unfortunately, yes. I'm, like, willing to go with you. I get it, yeah. Unfortunately, we have to do it that way. Do me a favor. We. Yes, unfortunately, yes. I'm like willing to go with you. I get it. Yeah. Unfortunately, we have to do it that way.

Do me a favor. We're just going to take this off. Joining me in an all-star panel to make sense of what we are learning tonight, a, according to some people, gorgeous, 30-year-old special ed teacher and soccer coach busted on alleged underage sex. age sex translation rape. If you are under age, you cannot give consent. Also a student, a teen boy student. Is it true, Sidney Sumner, that she also kept a memoir of sorts, a memoir detailing the sex, sex with a teen boy student Nancy that is correct though there are reports of this notes at material so these are several

writings in her notes at one section titled manifestations is saying things out loud in the hopes that the more you say them, the more they will happen. And several writings in this section reference the victim by name. What did you just say? The more you say something, the more likely it's going to happen? Yes, Nancy, this is a mantra. It's called Manifestation that many young people participate in nowadays. Okay. I've heard of manifestation.

I didn't think anyone actually thought it worked, but okay. So I want you to hear what we've learned about her memoir that she kept in the notes section on her iPhone. I hate to give a tutorial to all the future felons out there, but when you basically make a to-do list and recount all of your felonious activities on your iPhone, yeah, you're going to get busted. But you've got to hear this. Listen. I'm not sad. I'm f***ing mad that I let a 16-year-old f*** with me like that. And I made a promise to myself that I will never let any guy f*** with me like that again, ever.

In the end, we both lost. You lost the girl who would have stuck with you through thick and thin, who would have changed anything about herself to make you happy. And I lost the person I was before I met you. What is she talking about? Wait a minute. Whoa, whoa. I definitely need to shrink. But first to Anna Sunoda joining us, child sex abuse grooming expert, clinical social worker, therapist and author of Duck Duck Groom. Do you hear her? This is the woman, the grown married woman claiming, quote, I'm not sad. I am effing mad. I let a 16 year old confession F with me like that.

And I made a promise to myself. I will never let any confession F with me like that. And I made a promise to myself. I will never let any guy F with me like that again, ever. Did she put a bunch of exclamations with hearts at the bottom? I don't know. In the end, we both lost. What? You lost the girl who would have stuck with you through thick and thin, who would have changed anything about

herself to make you happy, what, get a divorce and go back in time to when she was a minor too? And I lost the person I was before I met you. What is she talking about, Anna Sinoda? This is no girl. This is a full grown 30 year old woman who abused her position of power. She groomed this young victim. And something I want to highlight here is that predators run on gas. What does that mean? That means you need to have grooming, access, and space. So she groomed this boy using flattery, kindness,

and highlighting him as her selected target. And she gained access in her role as a tutor, as a coach, as a teacher. And then what available space did she have? She had an empty classroom before school started. She had isolated time with this young victim. My question would be, how many others are there? She's acting like she's got a future with this little boy. Okay, where does her husband fit into this scenario? Much less the police. But I want you to hear more of what we have learned in her own memoirs on her own cell phone. Listen.

She is going to reach out to me soon and 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. And I will connect again soon in a positive way. We will both get the closure we need in order to move on in a healthy way. We will be able to be a part of each other's lives forever. We will be in each other's lives forever.

We will be able to love each other while also living our own lives. What a wackadoodle. We will be in each other's lives forever, in caps. We will be in each other's lives forever. Yes, you will, when he and his mommy show up to keep you out from getting parole. In the last days, a school teacher's bombshell claim that her husband was well aware of a teen boy's, quote, obsession with her. Well, prosecutors seem to disagree because they have charged her with a sex attack on a minor. He is a little boy.

What is she saying? Yes, Nancy. So these are her manifestations. A 30-year-old teacher is manifesting wishes about a teen student. So not her husband, not wanting to further her career, not wanting to become a better teacher or a better coach or a better wife, but she wants this teenage boy to reconcile with her. That's what's going through her mind every night. As I mentioned earlier, we all need to shrink right about now. Joining us, Dr. Sherry Schwartz, forensic psychologist specializing in this line of work at panthermitigation.com. And she is an author as well, criminal behavior and my favorite favorite, Where Law and Psychology Intersect. Dr. Sherry Schwartz, thank you for being with us. What is she talking about? Do you hear this? We will, in all caps, be in each other's lives forever. We will be able to love each other

while living our own lives. We need to move forward in a healthy way. That ship has sailed, Dr. Sherry. Correct. And what I see, what I'm hearing is something that's very dark. Sexual predators need to keep their victims close, particularly when their victims are minor children. This is her manifestation is I don't want to get caught. So I need to keep him close. I need him to believe that we're in love and we're this unique couple. And we're going to go forward together forever. Oh, my God. What the f***? In addition to the text messages, police also find several writings in Formella's notes app discussing her relationship with the victim, naming him directly.

Formella pens what looks like a breakup letter, calling the victim disgusting for cheating on her. Formella claims the victim manipulated her into maintaining their relationship despite her attempts to break it off. Formella says she now realizes the victim was only interested in her for sex and notes that she is angry that she allowed a 16-year-old to mess with her head. Am I in trouble? Like, I'm so lost right now. I'm sure you are. Like I said, I can't answer any questions right now. I'll just tell you that right now you're being detained for an investigation and we're bringing you to the police department. And once you get there, they're going to fill you in on everything.

Am I in trouble? Yeah, you are. Now, one of the most damning pieces of evidence the state has is her, Christina Formella, 30-year-old married special ed teacher that starts, quote, flirty messages. That's not how I would put it. I would call it enticing a minor, but that said, flirty messages over the school app. I see my children on the school app all the time. I have personally met every one of their teachers since they were pre, pre, pre K. You think this mom had any idea what was happening? H E double L N O. But you hear from Mella talking as if she has somehow been quote done wrong. As a matter of fact, um, her memoir that she wrote on her notes at, in her phone phone. You have to hear this. Listen. I went back and screenshotted every single time that I said we should break up until after the wedding and after you graduated. And every single time you came back and convinced me it would be fine.

I initiated every single breakup only for you to end things saying you couldn't get over it. You ruined us. Us. You ruined us. Like they have a future, like they're going to get married. Sydney Summer, explain to me what she wrote. Did she actually say she wanted to, quote, break up with the little boy after the wedding?

Yes, she did, Nancy. She explained that in very good detail for prosecutors in the future as this case goes to trial. She specifically mentioned both this teen boy's graduation and her own wedding, once again establishing that timeline that the rape occurred in December of 2023, almost a year before her wedding. So she references this victim by name multiple times, and in this breakup letter, what this reads as with the teen boy, she also references his new girlfriend's name. So lots of context to establish that this

note is about the victim. Straight out to veteran trial lawyer, defense attorney, Eric Faddis. You mentioned earlier correctly that the defendant, the special ed teacher, Christina from Mela claims the boy, the little boy grabbed her phone, put in her code and sent himself flirty and sex related messages that he, a little boy had the wherewithal to think that he would frame her for future blackmail. Now she's already put that out there. So you, the defense attorney are stuck with it. You can't just erase that. That's out there. So you can't now look for another defense. You're stuck with her words. Let's just pretend that that's true, that the boy thought, Hey, a year from now, I'm going to try to blackmail her and frame her. So

I'm going to send her texts from her to me that I can then say, all right, that's a flight of fancy. But Eric Faddis, what about about her memoir what about the notes on her iphone where she talks about how angry she is he got a new quote girlfriend and their future you know the she claims they only had sex aka raped him one time but this shows they have been an item for a long time since before her wedding. Nancy, the multiplicity of messages here, if authentic, is surely problematic. You know, the defense is going to say that at this day and age, 16-year-olds are pretty technologically savvy.

Some of them are more sophisticated than others. And then on the other hand, sometimes they do irrational, erratic, weird things. And perhaps all of that culminated in this alleged act where he tried to text him from her phone to sort of blackmail her. That's what the defense is going to argue. When it comes to the memoir, I think the defense is going to say that there are some murmurs about, at least according to Formella, that references to sexual activity in the memoirs actually relate to the husband and not to the 15-year-old child. So what did you just say? That everything is about the teen boy except what she's talking about sex, and then that's about the husband in the same paragraph? That is what the defense has reported.

That is what I've read in reports in terms of what is being referenced in these memoirs. The allegation is that this was kind of an outlet for her anxiety is how she put it, I believe. And sometimes people write stuff down and sometimes there's overlap and ideas get conflated. And perhaps that is the direction her defense will go to try to explain what is in this memoir as it compares to the text messages on the iCloud server.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. According to charging documents, a married Illinois school teacher sex assaulted a teen boy she was tutoring, but now tries to change the narrative, claiming the boy was her stalker and that her husband knew all about it. Well, that's not what the husband says, and that's not what prosecutors say. Brian, can we believe anything Christina Formella says? You have the text messages back and forth between her and the child victim. You have her memoir.

And then you have her and the ability she possesses to put on an Oscar-worthy performance, Brian. Can I ask you what? Of course, yeah. It's not, like I said, it's not my investigation. Obviously, we are here for a reason. So go ahead and turn around for me. So right now, you're just being detained, and there is a detective that needs to talk to you

at the police department. So we'll let your husband know he can just come to the police department as well if he wants to wait for you there. I'm like, I'm so scared. Yeah, everything's okay. We just need to talk to you at the police department. That's all. I am like so scared. That's nothing that can hold a candle to what this boy's mother felt when she saw those messages saved in the iCloud, Brian. Certainly. And you said it well, Nancy, that the defense has already put out this conspiracy theory that the teen boy was texting himself from her phone. And they're going to have to produce evidence that supports that. All right. Data from the boy's cell phone, other data from her phone, from other minor witnesses that would have seen or heard about this conspiracy. So I don't think we can believe much of what she's saying right here. Once you get to the police department, you'll talk to the detective and he'll explain everything to

you. But you can't even give me like an idea at the moment what this is about. Other than that, it's an investigation. That's all I can really tell you right now. I'm sorry. I wish I could tell you more. Excuse me. Is my husband coming with? Yes. Yeah. He's taking his phone over down. We're staying in touch with him. We're just going to Downers Grove. So 10 minutes away. No, I know. But I really would prefer that my husband's with me. Of course. May want to rethink that about how your husband learns his wife is charged with sex abusing a boy student. Back to evidentiary issues, I want you to hear one more excerpt

from Christina Formella, the special ed teacher's memoirs she wrote in her own iPhone. Listen. I warned you we should have never started dating a long, long, long time ago. And you gaslit me and convinced me it was fine every single time

because that's who you are. We will never, ever be together again. I'm not a second choice. I'm the best thing you'll ever have, even with all my mistakes. You once again waited and strung me along until it was convenient for you. It broke me last time. This time, it changed me. You know, Anna Sunoda, I don't know if you have encountered other child molesters that believe they have a relationship with the child, but that's what this sounds like. I'm having to hold my tongue over here, Nancy. She is working so hard to justify her own actions, which is classic predator behavior. Dating? She has the audacity to use the word dating. There is no way this is anywhere near dating.

This is grooming. This looks like flattery, favoritism, forbidden fruit. You entice a young boy with the possibility of sexual contact. That doesn't mean that he was the mastermind behind her plan. I am just shocked. But I do want to pinpoint some exceptionally positive things about this case. The mom in this case needs a gold medal. She checked the cell phone information. She followed up. She then reported it to police and the police investigated and it led to an arrest. That is a best case scenario. Unfortunately, that's a rarity in these sorts of cases. but those individuals deserve recognition for acting on that child's best behalf. You know, this is bringing to mind another case of Mary Kay Letourneau, who continued to molest Vili Flau. I believe at that time he was about 12 years old. Years passed,

and when she got out of jail, they actually got married and had a family. Listen. For anybody, first time, figure out what love is for the first time, you know, that's all you know. So for what I know that it was back then, yeah, I would say that that was real love. That's from our friends at News 7. Again, Vili Folau was 12 years old when she began raping him. They went on to have a family together. In this case, it sounds as if Formella believes the two have a future together. Let me go to Scott Eicher joining us, founding member, FBI cellular analysis survey team, former police officer, homicide detective as well. I want to talk to you about the defense and we heard Faddis trying to explain it amazingly

with a straight face. Scott Eicher, how or can we prove that the boy did not send the messages from her phone to himself to frame her or to use as blackmail at some unknown future date. Is that possible? It is. There's several different ways you can validate this information or disprove what the defendant is saying. We've got the records from the phone company. We've got the extraction information from the phone. We've got the school app that you're talking about. We also can look at in the specific part, which you mentioned, which is, did he send messages from her phone? We can look at where their two phones were at the time. Was his phone in the same location as hers? That might indicate that he

sent those text messages from her phone. But if he he's somewhere else there's no way he could have sent those messages so it's a lot of different ways we can look at this and tear that tear that defense apart and I it's not really easy to break into someone's phone then go through their app and then copy that and then send it to someone else. Are you sure you don't want a tissue or something? I'm feeling I'm going to throw up. A bag? All right. Shawna, can you grab a bag out of there? We're learning that the special ed teacher turned child molestation defendant is claiming she's too, quote, good looking for jail and that

she has been targeted because she's so pretty. Not the first time I've heard that argument. So why do you think you got all the attention? I don't know. I'll say it. Do you think it's because you're pretty? I think so. And sex sells. Okay. And that's from our friends at NBC. And you were hearing Deborah LaFave convicted for molesting a student claim she was targeted because she is quote, so pretty. Okay. Sydney Sumner, is that claim being made in the current case by Christina Formella? Yes, it is, Nancy. So her whole defense to this is, again, relying on that blackmail idea that this teenage boy broke into her phone, sent these text messages to himself to make it look like there was a conversation between the two of them. And she says that that happened because she cared about him too much and she is good looking. So she claims she is a good person who just maybe got a little bit too close to a student,

but she did not rape him and she is only being targeted because she is so pretty. Sydney, she is also claiming that the, quote, sex, translation, rape, only occurred one time. But according to the text messages and her own notes in her note area of her iPhone, show that a relationship lasted for a really long time. And she wanted it to go on, except the little boy got a girlfriend his own age. So Nancy, the defendant for Mella, she is claiming that they did not have sex in any way, shape or form. She is claiming that that text message exchange was not discussing something that happened, but was blackmailed to try and rope her into having sex with him in the future. The victim told police

that the encounter in December of 2023, that rape is the only encounter between them. So that's what the victim told police. But again, this victim got caught by his mother in an embarrassing situation. So is he telling the full truth? Because if he had any kind of romantic feelings for this woman, for his teacher, he likely does not want to see her go down the same way Billy Folau did. So it is 100% possible that this abuse was much more extensive and ongoing than police realize. Is she out on bond? Yes, she is. To Dr. Sherry Schwartz joining us, forensic psychologist, you know if this were reversed and the alleged abuser was a man and the victim was a 15-year-old little girl, he would be under the jail. Why the difference?

Well, the difference is because there's a stereotype that because this is a teenage boy that this is their fantasy. So somehow it's not as serious or troubling a crime when it's an older woman with a teenage boy, especially a pretty older woman. But this is false. We know that the harm is the same regardless. This is a minor child. She had an obligation to behave ethically and adhere to boundaries.

She never should have crossed a boundary. You know, Lady Justice is blind for a reason. Crossing boundaries, yes. Unethical, yes. But as a former prosecutor of violent felonies it's not just crossing boundaries it's not just unethical this is a crime lady justice does not make a note of whether the victim is a little boy or a little girl or whether the defendant is a stereotypical child molester stalking a playground and a trench coat and a pair of socks, or a pretty young special ed teacher. Age 30, the defendant. The alleged victim,

15. Let's think about that. We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.