Peoria Standard

Last week, Eddie Blakes, 52, was charged with Criminal Sexual Assault related to the assault of a 16-year-old girl earlier this year in Peoria. At his detention hearing today, the court granted the state's Petition to Detain Blakes, which means he will stay in custody until his trial.

According to police reports, on January 9, 2025, officers spoke with the victim after she had run away from home the previous day. She told authorities that an unknown man picked her up and another man joined them before they all went to a residence in Peoria. There, she reported being sexually assaulted by both men. The victim also said a third man arrived and assaulted her as well.

The victim underwent a sexual assault kit at the hospital. DNA collected from the kit matched Blakes.

Blakes was arrested on September 18, 2025. During questioning by police, he admitted to being present at the house and seeing two other men with the victim but denied any contact with her.

"This investigation is ongoing. If you have information regarding this incident, please contact the Peoria Police Department at 309-673-4521," officials stated.

In other local context, Peoria County's schools had an average student-to-teacher ratio of 15-to-1 during the 2022-23 school year with over 27,000 students enrolled and nearly 1,850 full-time faculty members across county schools (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx). Teacher absenteeism in Peoria County schools stood at 32.3% for that same period—slightly lower than Illinois' state average of 35.6% (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx).

Among local high schools during that year: Dunlap High School had the highest enrollment of white students (873), Richwoods High School led in multiracial student enrollment (182), Lincoln School recorded the highest number of Hispanic students (218), and Peoria High School had the largest Black student enrollment (798) (https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Home.aspx).