A 36-year-old Republican state delegate who also taught middle school in Fayette County, West Virginia, faces a federal enticement charge after prosecutors say he used a children's gaming platform to begin a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student.
Federal investigators arrested David Elliott Pritt this week on a charge of enticement of a minor, alleging he first contacted the girl on Roblox during the 2024, 25 school year, when she was an eighth grader and he was her teacher. A federal affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital lays out a pattern of alleged grooming that moved from a gaming chat to Snapchat, then into Pritt's own classroom, where the girl told investigators she performed sexual acts on him roughly five to ten times.
Pritt has represented Fayette County's District 50 in the West Virginia House of Delegates since 2022. He won the seat as a Democrat before switching to the Republican Party in 2023. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw stripped Pritt of his legislative roles immediately after the arrest and publicly urged him to resign.
The affidavit traces the alleged relationship from its start on Roblox, a platform overwhelmingly popular with children, through an escalation on Snapchat during the summer of 2025. Prosecutors say Pritt sent the girl a sexually explicit photograph of himself over Snapchat and then asked her to send nude photos in return. The girl told investigators she complied.
After both Pritt and the student moved to a local high school, the contact allegedly turned physical. The girl said Pritt repeatedly asked her to come to his classroom, where the sexual encounters took place. The final alleged in-person meeting occurred around December 2025 or January 2026, but prosecutors say Pritt continued requesting explicit photographs from the girl through July 2026, a span of more than a year from the first alleged communication.
Federal investigators allege probable cause to believe Pritt knowingly used interstate communications between May 2025 and July 2026 to entice the minor to produce child sexual abuse material and engage in sexual activity that violates West Virginia law.
The affidavit paints a picture of a man who understood exactly what he stood to lose, and allegedly pressured a teenager to protect him. Pritt warned the girl that police would seize their phones and "open up h*** in our lives," according to the federal filing. He urged her not to tell anyone.
The New York Post reported a fuller version of Pritt's alleged plea to the girl:
"It would be awful. For both of us. And I would lose my entire life."
That warning came from a man who held two positions of public trust, elected lawmaker and classroom teacher, over a girl who was 15 years old. The girl's family went to law enforcement on July 9, and the federal charge followed within weeks.
Fayette County Schools did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It remains unclear whether the district has taken any separate employment action against Pritt or when officials first learned of the allegations.
Speaker Hanshaw did not hold back. He called the charges against Pritt "shocking, disgusting and disappointing in every way" and moved quickly to remove Pritt from all House assignments, the only administrative step available to leadership without a formal vote.
Hanshaw also issued a statement that balanced institutional gravity with personal weight, as Fox News reported:
"My heart aches for his family, and if any part of these serious allegations are true, the law should be applied in full force."
A spokesperson for Hanshaw told reporters that House leadership is reviewing the constitutional process for expulsion, which would require a two-thirds vote of elected House members. Whether Pritt will resign on his own or force that vote remains an open question. He has not made any public statement in response to the charges.
The case adds to a broader pattern of elected officials and public figures facing serious criminal allegations that erode public trust in the people voters send to state capitals. Readers may recall a recent incident involving a political figure's family member that raised similar questions about accountability in political life.
Several details remain unclear. The specific federal agency that led the investigation, likely the FBI, based on the nature of the charge, has not been explicitly identified in public filings. No plea from Pritt has been reported. Whether he remains in custody or has been released on bond is not yet known; his booking photo was taken at the Carter County Detention Center.
The maximum penalty for the federal enticement charge has not been specified in available reporting. And the names of the schools where the alleged abuse took place have not been made public, leaving parents in Fayette County to wonder how close the conduct came to their own children.
A teacher trusted with someone else's child. A lawmaker trusted with a vote in the state legislature. If the federal affidavit holds up, David Elliott Pritt betrayed both obligations in the worst way a person in authority can, and the people of Fayette County deserve answers that go well beyond a single charge.
