Wilmington Special Education Assistant Accused Of Sex Crimes Involving Child

WILMINGTON, IL — The Wilmington Police Department captured Christina Saracco, a 28-year-old woman who previously worked as a special education instructional assistant, and booked her into Will County's Jail Thursday night in connection with four charges accusing her of grooming and other sexual-related crimes against a Wilmington child.

According to the criminal complaint, Saracco is charged with grooming, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, sexual exploitation of a child and distribution of harmful materials to a minor.

The filing from the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow indicates that all four of Saracco's crimes happened during the time frame of May 1, 2024, and May 28, 2025, a period of nearly 13 months. She is accused of distributing nude images of her own breasts to the minor, one of her charges stated.

Saracco is accused exposing her own breasts for the sexual gratification or arousal of her underage victim, the court files show. She is accused of purchasing alcohol for the same victim even though the person is under the age of 21, the complaint noted.

As for the grooming charge, Saracco is accused of using the Internet, specifically Snapchat, " to attempt to solicit, seduce, lure, or entice ... a child under the age of 17, to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with (the child)," the complaint noted.

The Southern Will County Cooperative for Special Education (SOWIC) issued a statement Friday acknowledging that Saracco is a former employee, having worked as an instructional assistant in the SOWIC program at Wilmington High School.

The organization called the accusations "an isolated incident," adding, "to our knowledge, no other students were involved or impacted."

SOWIC and the Wilmington School District immediately removed Saracco from the school and contacted police, as well as DCFS, adding that Saracco "has had no further contact with students" and was no longer employed by SOWIC.

"Since being informed of the assistant's alleged inappropriate actions away from the workplace, SOWIC has fully cooperated with all of the State and local authorities investigating this matter to ensure that (sic) the safety and well-being of its students," it said in the statement.

Saracco remained in the Will County Jail as of Friday afternoon. The Wilmington police booked her into the jail just after 8 p.m. on Thursday. Sarraco comes from the 1300 block of Janet Drive in Wilmington, her jail logs show.