A Republican state lawmaker in West Virginia has been arrested after federal investigators accused him of using social media platforms to groom and sexually abuse a teenage student at the school where he worked as a teacher. Delegate David Elliott Pritt, 36, was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with coercion and enticement of a minor and third-degree sexual assault, according to a federal criminal complaint.
Pritt was not only a classroom teacher but also an elected member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, serving as the chamber’s assistant majority leader, placing him in two separate positions of authority over the public and the children in his care. The allegations outlined by federal investigators are deeply disturbing, and according to the complaint, the family of a 15-year-old girl contacted law enforcement on July 9. A two-week investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations allegedly uncovered a lengthy pattern of communication between Pritt and the teenager.
Investigators say the contact began sometime between late 2024 and early 2025, when the girl was an eighth-grade student at the middle school where Pritt taught. The complaint alleges that Pritt initially communicated with the child through Roblox, an online gaming platform widely used by children, before moving their conversations to Snapchat, where messages and images can disappear after being viewed.
Over time, investigators allege that the conversations became increasingly personal and by the end of the student’s eighth-grade year, Pritt had allegedly told her that he loved her. During the summer of 2025, the complaint alleges that Pritt began sending the child sexually explicit photographs and videos of himself and asking her to send similar material in return.
Pritt later began teaching at a West Virginia high school in the fall of 2025, and federal investigators allege that he asked the teenager to come to the school and perform sexual acts. According to the complaint, the child was allegedly subjected to sexual activity inside Pritt’s classroom on approximately five to 10 occasions, and the alleged encounters continued until January.
The complaint states that Pritt remained in contact with the teenager on Snapchat until July, and investigators also allege that Pritt warned the child not to tell anyone about what had happened. In one alleged exchange, Pritt told her that state police could arrive, confiscate their phones and “open up hell in our lives.” He also allegedly said, “I would lose my entire life.”
That statement reveals a familiar dynamic in alleged abuse cases involving adults in positions of authority: the adult centers the consequences they could face rather than the harm allegedly inflicted on the child. The burden of secrecy is placed on the minor, and the child is made to feel responsible for the adult’s job, marriage, family, reputation or freedom, but a child is never responsible for protecting an adult from the consequences of that adult’s conduct.
Pritt is reportedly married and has four children.
Following his arrest, West Virginia House Speaker Roger Hanshaw called on Pritt to resign and announced that he had been removed from all official legislative roles.
The school district must now face serious questions about whether there were warning signs, whether proper safeguards were in place and how an adult accused of exploiting a student was allegedly able to use school property for repeated sexual encounters. The case also raises concerns about the ways adults may use child-centered online spaces to gain access to minors.
This case is ultimately not only about one politician or one teacher… it is about the dangers created when an adult holds multiple forms of authority and allegedly uses that trust to exploit a child. Teachers are entrusted with children’s safety, and lawmakers are entrusted with the public’s confidence. When a person occupies both roles, the standard of conduct should be especially high.
Children should never be expected to protect the reputations of powerful adults, and the institutions must protect children instead.
Always a conservative white man.
Ever notice that these GOP Sex Pest arrests increasingly happen on every day that ends in “y”? 🤔