Former West Virginia Lawmaker and Teacher Pleads Guilty to Trying to Produce Child Pornography, Faces at Least 15 Years in Prison
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of West Virginia announced on November 11, 2026, that David Elliott Pritt, 36, of Oak Hill in Fayette County, West Virginia, pleaded guilty that day to attempted production of child pornography. At the time of the offense, Pritt was employed as a teacher with Fayette County Schools and represented a Fayette County district in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Pritt communicated with an approximately 14-year-old girl using the Snapchat app beginning in about June 2025 and lasting through at least January 2026. As part of his guilty plea, he admitted that he sent the girl sexually explicit images, told her he loved her and was sexually attracted to her, and sought to persuade, induce and entice her to take sexually explicit images of herself and send them to him.
Following his arrest in July 2026, Pritt resigned from the West Virginia Legislature, and the Fayette County Board of Education suspended and then terminated his employment. A federal grand jury indicted him on August 19, 2026.
Pritt is scheduled to be sentenced on March 4, 2027. He faces a mandatory minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years in federal prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. He must also register as a sex offender. U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger presided over the hearing, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Rada Herrald and Amy L. McLaughlin are prosecuting the case.
U.S. Attorney Moore Capito said parents send their children to school trusting that the adults there will keep them safe, and that Pritt violated that trust; he said the guilty plea was achieved in consultation with the victim and her family. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Fayette County Sheriff's Office.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to combat the exploitation and abuse of children through the internet.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
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