Man Chewed On Her Toes, Burned His Clothes And Came Back Inside Naked: Wilmington Victim

WILMINGTON, IL — A 42-year-old Wilmington man will remain in the Will County Jail indefinitely under the SAFE-T-Act after Judge Derek Ewanic ruled that Cory Dean Durflinger meets both the dangerousness standard and the willful flight standard. The Will County Sheriff's Office arrested Durflinger on Monday at the Lake Will Recreation Club and prosecutors charged him with four counts of domestic battery and one count of interfering with the reporting of domestic violence.

"I was sound asleep, and Cory came home and took off my sock and started chewing on my toes," the victim's order of protection informed Will County's judges. "I then pull my foot back, Cory got angry and yelled, 'you never pull back.' I went outside for a smoke, Cory followed me and continued to swear at me. I told him, 'I don't need this' and went back inside.'"

The 42-year-old victim informed the judge that "Cory then comes back inside butt naked. Cory yells at me saying, 'I burned my clothes, get me some clothes.' Cory threatened to burn my mom and her camper. Cory and I began arguing all while he trashed my mom's camper. During the argument, we headed outside. Cory hit me with a closed fist onto my face. This is not the first time Cory has hit me. I am tired of all of this, and I do not feel safe. The next day, we called police after Cory fell asleep."

The prosecution's petition to deny pretrial release indicates that on Monday around 1:30 p.m., Will County deputies were sent to the Lake Will Recreation Club on Stripmine Road for a domestic incident. A woman told them that on Sunday, Durflinger was intoxicated and he hit her in the face with a closed fist and shoved her against the wall. The woman's mother saw Durflinger push her daughter into the wall and hit her in the face, court files show.

The victim suffered no visible injuries, the prosecutors noted. Both women indicated they tried to call the police but Durflinger took their phones away and smashed one so they could not call police. Deputies saw one phone with a smashed screen.

As for Durflinger, he has one previous domestic battery conviction, from 2017, out of Vermilion County. He also has a pending 2025 possession of meth case out of Iroquois County, a 2023 conviction for obstructing identification out of Vermilion County, a four-year prison term out of Iroquois for attempted criminal sexual assault and a battery conviction from 2000 out of Iroquois. His 2003 DUI happened in Ford County, court files show.

"The defendant is on sentence in Vermilion County ... and on pretrial release in Iroquois County ... defendant poses a threat to the victim ... and the witness," Will County prosecutors reminded Judge Ewanic, who ruled in favor of keeping the Wilmington man incarcerated under the SAFE-T-Act.

Durflinger's next hearing will be in Courtroom 405 on Sept. 30.