Man Told Girl She Was '18 For The Night,' And Not To Say Anything Or He Could Go Prison: Prosecutors

WILMINGTON, IL — Blake Wherry, the 21-year-old Wilmington resident who has stayed in the Will County Jail for a week facing underage sex crime charges, will face a pretrial detention hearing, but not for another week. Joliet Patch previously broke the news revealing the arrest of Wherry by the Will County Sheriff's Office on three crimes of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

According to the prosecution's filing at the Will County Courthouse, in April 2025, the mother of the victim went to the Wilmington Police Department to report that Wherry, who was 20 years old at the time, had engaged in sexual contact with her daughter, who was 14 at the time.

The Will County Sheriff's Office then took over the case from Wilmington police. The criminal complaint listed March 29, 2025 as the date of the crimes.

Prosecutors said that the 14-year-old victim participated in a victim-sensitive interview. The girl explained the suspect is a friend of her brother, and the two of them had been friends for a long time. She said there was an occasion where she and Wherry added each other on Snapchat.

Court records indicate that at one point she asked for his help obtaining what she called a "Chillum," which she described as an item used to smoke "weed." A few days later, Wherry did provide the requested item, prosecutors said.

The petition to deny pretrial release alleges that on March 29, 2025, Wherry sent the girl a message saying he wished she could come over. He then drove to her home, picked her up and brought her back to his place, prosecutors said.

During the interview, the victim stated how Wherry "knew her age, since he had known her brother for a long time, and that on that date he told her she was '18 for the night,'" prosecutors alleged.

Once at Blake's home, the two cuddled and then engaged in sexual contact, prosecutors said. Eventually, "Blake then drove her home, telling her not to say anything to anyone or he would go to prison," court records show.

The Will County Sheriff's Police later interviewed the victim's brother, "who confronted Blake, upon hearing rumors about Blake" and his sister, prosecutors said. He said that Blake "initially denied everything but then did admit to picking (the girl up) and bringing (her) to his home," court documents reflect.

"He said it would be unusual for Blake to be giving (his sister) rides and that Blake would definitely know how old (she) was due to the length of time he and Blake had been friends. He further stated that Blake had attended an 8th grade graduation party for (for the girl) the previous summer before she started High School, saying from the theme and decor it was obviously an 8th grade graduation party," prosecutors said.

Detectives interviewed another friend of Wherry's who stated that "Blake had told him that he and (the girl) had tried to have sex, 'but it didn't work' and that (she) had given him oral sex. He stated there were occasions where Blake had 'bragged' to him about this. He stated that Blake had become nervous and had asked him if he would be speaking to detectives," prosecutors outlined in their SAFE-T Act detention petition.

This week, Joliet Patch learned that the Wilmington defendant has retained Morris criminal defense lawyer Randolph Gordon. On Tuesday, Gordon filed a motion at the Will County Courthouse asking that a judge release his client under the SAFE-T Act. Will County Jail records indicate that Wherry comes from the 26200 block of West Willow Lane.

The motion from Gordon indicates that Wherry "is a long time resident of Will County, is employed, a United States citizen and resides with his father reside in Will County," "that Defendant's previous criminal history is minimal or nonexistent," and "that the alleged charges occurred more than a year ago and are just now being charged."

Lastly, Gordon argued in his motion, "The Court has several options available to it, which would protect the alleged victims and the community from the Defendant without detention."

According to Wednesday's records from the Will County Courthouse, Wherry appeared in Courtroom 405 for his hearing on the prosecution's petition to deny pretrial release; however, the pretrial detention hearing was continued until Sept. 8. In the meantime, Wherry will remain in the Will County Jail, the judge has ordered.