Tomczak Law Group Wins Freedom For Ex-Wilmington School Aide Accused Of Exploiting Her Students

JOLIET, IL — After spending more than a week in the Will County Jail facing charges including sexual exploitation of a minor and grooming, former Wilmington High School special education aide Christina Saracco learned on Thursday morning that her time at the jail has come to an end.

Will County Judge Vincent Cornelius ruled in favor of Tomczak Law Group and criminal defense attorney Patti Kalkanis during Thursday's pretrial detention hearing on whether Saracco needed to remain incarcerated under the Illinois SAFE-T-Act.

The Will County Jail logs show that Saracco, who turns 29 this year, was let out of the jail at 3:57 p.m. Her next pretrial hearing is for April 8.

Earlier, Kalkanis told Judge Cornelius that her client has a 9-year-old daughter and that the father has no job and has not been a part of her daughter's life. The young man was sitting in the back of Courtroom 404 to watch the proceedings.

Once the hearing ended, he stormed down the fourth-floor Will County Courthouse hallway in a fit of rage, yelling to himself loudly that Saracco's defense lawyer was a liar, that she was making up lies about him.

Earlier, Kalkanis told Judge Cornelius that the 9-year-old girl was absent from school the past three days due to the absentee father. Kalkanis assured Judge Cornelius that Saracco has the support of her sister and her mother, who were also in the courtroom, to help care for her child while her four criminal charges are pending at the courthouse.

Kalkanis argued that the 17-year-old boy who is considered the victim is not pushing for the criminal case, but rather his father was — who Kalkanis also informed the courtroom that the father has since died.

Kalkanis said that once her client is released from the jail, plans are in the works for her to undergo a psychological evaluation.

The lawyer with Tomczak Law Group told Judge Cornelius that she would have no objections if the judge ordered Saracco to be placed under GPS monitoring while her criminal case is proceeding. Kalkanis also explained to the judge that Saracco no longer works at Wilmington High School, so there are no other issues surrounding her being around teenagers.

Kalkanis said that Saracco is now employed as a DoorDash delivery driver and she makes a substantial amount of money at her DoorDash job.

Kalkanis stressed it was important for Judge Cornelius to consider the plight of Saracco's 9-year-old daughter and not leave the girl in the care of her father.

"The father has no job, no home, he bounces from home to home," Kalkanis told the courtroom. "He hasn't really shown any interest in the past."

Kalkanis said her client has no prior criminal history, and "the victim has shown less interest in moving forward. This is the first time she's been in trouble."

Before issuing his decision, Judge Cornelius asked the lawyers if they knew the last date of contact between Saracco and the Wilmington teenage victim. Prosecutor Amanda Tasker revealed that the communication happened last October. Most of the allegations in the criminal complaint surround the time period of May 2024 through May 2025.

Prosecutors say that in addition to showing the teenage boy, who was 16, her breasts and sending him photos of her breasts, Saracco sent him a lot of money through her account on CashApp and purchased an Xbox for him. Additionally, Saracco bought alcohol for him and some of his friends, Tasker told the judge.

Tasker said Wilmington police also learned through the victim how there may be at least one other juvenile that Saracco had a relationship with. However, the second juvenile "will not cooperate" with the police, so far, she noted.

In his ruling returning Saracco to the Wilmington community, Judge Cornelius announced that she must have no contact with any minors and she must stay away from businesses and locations where minors are typically present.