Elliott Pritt, the state delegate and school teacher charged with seducing a 15-year-old girl, is being held in jail, had his teaching certificate suspended, faces calls to resign from the House of Delegates and probably won’t be able to be replaced on general election ballots.
Pritt is due in federal court for a preliminary hearing at 2 p.m. Monday.
Pritt was arrested Wednesday in Oak Hill, charged with enticement of a minor and made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dwane Tinsley. He has not yet entered a plea.
Until then, Pritt is being held at the Carter County Detention Center in Kentucky, a facility that has a pretrial detainee contract with the U.S. Marshal Service.
Pritt, 36, has taught social studies and history in Fayette County schools. He is accused of enticing a 15-year-old girl to produce explicit images and to engage in sexual conduct.
An affidavit filed in the case indicates that Pritt and the girl exchanged explicit videos during 2025 and 2026. In late 2025, according to the affidavit, Pritt initiated physical encounters, asking her to meet him at his classroom at Oak Hill High School in Fayette County, where they would perform sex acts.
Pritt’s teacher certification has been summarily suspended because of the allegations, announced Michele Blatt, the state superintendent of schools.
If Pritt pleads guilty or is ultimately convicted, Blatt noted, state law calls for the superintendent to automatically revoke his certification. She said the Department of Education would continue to monitor the proceedings in his criminal case.
“Teachers hold a position of public trust in the school systems in which they teach and the communities that they serve. The allegation that Mr. Pritt engaged in enticement of a minor attending Fayette County Schools, the county in which Mr. Pritt was a teacher, is shocking and disturbing,” Blatt stated.
“Our deepest concerns lie with the student who is alleged to have been enticed and abused by Mr. Pritt.”
Pritt was first elected to the House of Delegates as a Democrat in 2021. He defeated the incumbent, Delegate Austin Haynes, who had been accused of sexual harassment. Pritt then switched his political affiliation to Republican in 2023.
After the initial hearing in federal court, state political figures from both major parties, including the speaker of the House of Delegates, called for his resignation.
“I urge Elliott Pritt, for the benefit of his family and the people of his District, to spare his students and his colleagues at every level the continued embarrassments and distractions and to resign from elected office as soon as he is able,” stated House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.
Pritt was unopposed in this spring’s primary election. The Democratic challenger in the race is Matthew Anderson, a special education teacher at Divide Elementary School in Fayette County.
Republicans seem unlikely to be able to replace Pritt on the ballot, even if he withdraws.
Resignation resulting in a vacancy on the upcoming ballot will not allow the resigning candidate’s political party to fill the vacancy on the ballot, said Deak Kersey, chief deputy secretary of state.
Only in instances of a vacancy resulting from disqualification such as lack of eligibility before the 84th day prior to Election Day, or death, would the party be able to nominate a different candidate.
That’s because of a relatively new law, HB 4350, passed in 2024 and effective Jan. 1, 2025.
A judge can determine someone disqualified — for example, upon conviction of a disqualifying crime like felony, treason or bribery in an election. The State Election Commission can also disqualify a candidate.
But to fill the vacancy on the ballot in the 2026 general election, Kersey said, the disqualification has to occur by Aug. 11, 2026. That’s in a little less than three weeks.
State Republican Party Chairman Josh Holstein, who is also a state delegate representing Boone County, was the primary sponsor of House Bill 4350 that made the change. He agreed that there are significant limitations to appointment to the ballot at this point.
Talking about the possibility that Pritt would resign from the Legislature, Holstein said, “Should the seat become vacant, by whatever means, the party will follow the usual process for filling a vacancy outlined in WV Code §3-10-5 governed by state law and the bylaws of the West Virginia Republican Party.
Resigning from office is not the same as resigning or withdrawing from the ballot. To do both, the political figure would have to submit a resignation notification as well as a withdrawal notification.
“As for ballot replacement,” Holstein concluded, “the WVGOP will release details at a later date.”
Holstein was one of the West Virginia political figures who called for Pritt to resign from the House of Delegates.
“Public officials are held to the highest standard of conduct. Given the seriousness of these federal charges, Delegate Pritt should immediately resign from the West Virginia House of Delegates. The people of his district deserve representation that is beyond reproach, and these allegations make it impossible for him to effectively serve,” Holstein said.
The girl’s family reported Pritt to the police on July 9.
An affidavit filed by an investigator in the federal case indicates that the relationship began in 2024-25 when the girl was in the eighth grade and Pritt started communicating with her and at least one other female student outside of school.
The communication started on the online game Roblox and transitioned to Snapchat, according to the affidavit. It’s important to note that both operate over the internet or cellular networks, and the charge against Pritt is based on a law making it illegal to use any facility or means of interstate commerce like the internet or cellular networks to knowingly persuade, induce, entice or coerce a minor to engage in illegal sexual activity.
The last physical sexual encounter with Pritt and the girl occurred about December 2025 or January 2026, according to the affidavit, but the investigator wrote that Pritt continued to communicate with the girl on Snapchat until this month and continued too request that she send him sexually explicit photographs.
This past April, West Virginia’s Attorney General announced an $11 million settlement with Roblox to be paid out over several years. Part of the funds will be used for safety efforts specific to West Virginia — $500,000 in safety education workshops for parents and children throughout the state, a $1.5 million three-year public safety campaign, and $2.4 million over six years for the dedicated internet safety specialist.
Alabama reached a similar settlement for $12 million. A Nevada settlement was $12.5 million. Mississippi reached a settlement of $5 million in penalties and $9 million allocated for digital literacy education.
As part of the agreement, the kids gaming company agreed to fundamentally overhaul how it protects children — including mandatory age verification, restricted adult-to-child chat, default safe-content settings for all users under 16 and safety training for West Virginia families and law enforcement.
The Attorney General’s Office said its investigation is found that Roblox’s historical safety design allowed child users to be exposed to sexual predators, grooming, and sexual and violent content, putting every child on the platform at risk.
“Our investigation found serious failures that left children exposed to real danger,” West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey said in the announcement.
“This settlement changes that. Roblox will now verify who its users are, limit who can contact children, and block inappropriate content by default. I am thankful that Roblox took our concerns seriously and worked with us to make these major safety changes. This is a win not only for West Virginia families, but for all kids who play on the app.”
Now West Virginia has a state delegate accused of using the online gaming platform to start an inappropriate relationship with an adolescent girl.