CHARLESTON, WV (WOAY) – West Virginia School Superintendent Michelle Blatt has suspended the teacher certification held by Fayette County high school teacher and West Virginia Delegate David Elliott Pritt and says Pritt has been suspended without pay by Fayette County Superintendent David Warvel.
In a statement, Blatt said the suspension of Pritt’s certificate is a direct result of that federal charge.
“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. If Mr. Pritt is ultimately convicted or pleads guilty to these charges, W. Va. Code §18A-3-6(d)(2) provides that the State Superintendent shall automatically revoke his certification. As a result, we will continue to monitor further developments in the proceedings that are underway in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia,” Blatt said.
Blatt said that the state’s immediate concern is with the student who was allegedly victimized. She said that she supports Superintendent Warvel’s action of suspending Pritt without pay.
Superintendent Warvel said in a statement last night that Fayette County Schools is cooperating with law enforcement.
“Fayette County Schools is aware of the reported federal charges involving a Fayette County Schools employee. Because this is an active investigation, we are unable to provide additional comment at this time. Fayette County Schools will fully cooperate with law enforcement as the investigation progresses. The safety and well-being of our students and staff remain our highest priority,” Warvel said.
Pritt was removed from his role of assistant majority leader and other official roles in the House of Delegates. Republican leadership in West Virginia have called for his resignation as Delegate of the 50th District.
The federal criminal complaint alleges that Pritt began communicating with the girl on the online video game Roblox during her eighth grade year, which was approximately 2024-2025. The conversation moved to the social media messaging platform Snapchat.
Pritt eventually told the alleged victim that he loved her, and the criminal complaint alleges that Pritt was sending inappropriate messages to her by the summer of 2025. He asked her to send pictures back, and the complaint alleges “While the pictures [the alleged victim] initially sent via Snapchat were innocuous, at PRITT’s request and direction they became increasingly more explicit.”
According to the complaint, the victim told police that Pritt initiated a physical relationship with her during late 2025. Pritt allegedly would ask her to meet him in his class room at Oak Hill High School, where they allegedly engaged in sexual activity including oral sex.
The victim told investigators that it happened five to ten times. The last sexual encounter allegedly happened between December 2025 or January 2026, but Pritt allegedly continued to request explicit pictures up to July 2026.
On June 20, 2026, Pritt allegedly told the victim not to tell anyone. If she told anyone, the complaint alleges, Pritt told her “the state police show up and take your phone and mine and open up hell in our lives. And because of me it would very much not be low key. It would be in the news. It would be awful. For both of us. And I would lose my entire life.”
