FAYETTE COUNTY, W.Va. — A sitting member of the West Virginia House of Delegates is facing a federal charge after investigators say he carried on a physical relationship with a teenage student at the school where he worked as a teacher.
Charges filed after family came forward
Republican Delegate David Elliott Pritt, 36, of Fayette County, appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge this week after being arrested and charged with enticement of a minor.
The case stems from a federal criminal complaint built on an affidavit from a Homeland Security Investigations agent.
According to that complaint, the family of the teenage victim went to law enforcement on July 9 after learning what had allegedly been happening. Investigators interviewed the girl the next day, and she described how her relationship with Pritt, who taught social studies and history in Fayette County schools, began during the 2024-2025 school year while she was in eighth grade.
Court documents state the contact started on the online platform Roblox before moving to Snapchat, where the conversations became increasingly personal over time. By the end of that school year, the girl told investigators Pritt had said he loved her.
Encounters allegedly moved from photos to the classroom
Investigators say that during the summer of 2025, Pritt sent the girl a photo of himself and began asking her to send pictures back. What started as ordinary images allegedly escalated at his urging into explicit content, and the two eventually exchanged sexually explicit videos as well, according to the complaint.
By late 2025, the affidavit alleges Pritt began asking the girl to meet him in his classroom at Oak Hill High School, where investigators say sexual encounters occurred between five and ten times. The physical contact reportedly stopped around December 2025 or January 2026, but investigators say Pritt kept messaging the girl on Snapchat through this month, continuing to ask for explicit photos.
The complaint also describes messages in which Pritt allegedly warned the girl to keep quiet, telling her that if it came out, state police would seize both of their phones and the fallout would be public and damaging for them both.
Pritt was elected to represent District 50 in 2022, originally running as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party in 2023. He had previously criticized the man he defeated for office over past misconduct allegations, writing at the time that some lapses in judgment cannot simply be overlooked.
Legislative leaders call for resignation
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw immediately stripped Pritt of his official legislative duties and urged him to step down, calling the accusations shocking and disgusting while noting Pritt is still entitled to the presumption of innocence. West Virginia Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein echoed that call, saying the seriousness of the federal charges makes it impossible for Pritt to keep serving.
Democratic Party Chairman Mike Pushkin and House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle also demanded Pritt’s resignation, with Pushkin saying protecting children must always come before protecting politicians. A spokesperson for the House of Delegates noted that Pritt legally remains a delegate unless he resigns or the chamber votes to remove him.
Notably, Pritt was among the lawmakers who pushed hardest earlier this year for Raylee’s Law, a proposal meant to protect students from being pulled out of school during pending abuse investigations, and reportedly grew emotional on the House floor when the bill failed to pass before the session’s end.
Pritt is being held at the Carter County Detention Center and is scheduled to appear in federal court again on July 27.
