Former delegate to plead guilty in child rape case

A disgraced, former assistant majority leader in the House of Delegates is expected to plead guilty in federal court to charges relating to the sexual assault of a teenager. 

Lawyers for David “Elliott” Pritt, 36, filed Tuesday for motion to cancel a scheduled bond modification hearing because their client had signed a guilty plea agreement with the federal government. 

U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Omar J. Aboulson issued an order Tuesday to cancel the bond hearing, but has not scheduled a hearing for a guilty plea. 

Pritt represented Fayette County in the House of Delegates after being elected in 2022 as a Democrat. He switched to the Republican in 2023 and rose to the ranks as assistant majority leader, a position that is rotated out from session-to-session. 

The West Virginia Republican Party took the extraordinary step of expelling Pritt, the first in the party’s history. 

Pritt faces charges of enticement of a minor, production of child sexual abuse material and witness tampering. He could serve up to life in prison. 

However, while his attorneys have said Pritt is willing to plead guilty, a judge must still accept his deal with the government in order to proceed. 

Pritt previously pleaded not guilty before Judge Aboulson.

Since his arrest on July 22, Pritt has been held in a correctional facility in Kentucky.

An investigation this summer revealed Pritt, who worked as a public school teacher at the time of arrest, allegedly sexually assaulted a teenage girl.

A criminal complaint said that Pritt allegedly began communicating with the girl when she was in eighth grade in 2024 through the online game Roblox then later on Snapchat. Pritt later allegedly initiated a physical relationship with the minor and requested that she meet him in his classroom at Oak Hill High School to engage in sexual activity at least five to 10 times.

Last month, Pritt asked to be released on bond for mental health treatment at a veterans medical center in Martinsburg while awaiting adjudication, WCHS reported.

Federal prosecutors opposed Pritt’s release for reasons that included safety of the community.

The federal prosecutors also cited a love letter written by Pritt to the minor girl earlier this year as reason he should not be moved to a less-strict mental health facility.

Pritt previously removed himself from the ballot since he was seeking reelection to the House.