Former delegate Elliott Pritt enters guilty plea to attempted production of child porn

Former Republican state lawmaker Elliott Pritt formally pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge related to a sexual relationship with an underage student. 

As part of a plea agreement, Pritt admitted to one count of attempted production of child pornography. Attorneys representing the federal government agreed to dismiss two other charges: enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity and attempt to persuade a minor not to tell law enforcement information related to a federal crime. 

Pritt resigned from the House of Delegates, where he represented Fayette County, when he was arrested on federal charges in July. He was a public school teacher at the time. 

Pritt told U.S. District Court Judge Irene C. Berger that he exchanged nude photos with the student, who was aged 14 to 15 at the time, on the social media platform Snapchat.

“We asked one another what we wanted to see, and that’s how it happened,” Pritt told the judge. He said the photos were exchanged more than 10 times. 

As part of the plea agreement, Pritt will surrender his cellphone along with a laptop computer, the judge said. 

According to the stipulation of facts in the case, Pritt told the student of his undying love for her in a typewritten letter. 

According to the plea agreement, attorneys will recommend Pritt serve a sentence of 15 to 30 years in prison. He’d be required to register as a sex offender, pay possible fines and restitution, and have supervisory release for five years to life.

Pritt appeared at the hearing Tuesday in an orange prison jumpsuit and shackles. He was escorted into Berger’s fifth floor courtroom by U.S. Marshals. 

Sentencing in Pritt’s case is set for 10 a.m. March 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia in Charleston.