MISSISSIPPI
Fox 6
By Michelle Lady
GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) – A longtime South Mississippi teacher is now a sex offender in the eyes of the court. Tuesday, William Richard Pryor admitted to two counts of transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity and travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Each count involves a different victim.
Before the judge would accept Pryor’s plea the prosecution read the evidence they had against Pryor to the court. Ten people sat in the pews of the federal courtroom in Gulfport as the disturbing details were told.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Pryor befriended a male student and acted as a father figure and a mentor to him. He would invite him to his apartment on weekends and that’s when the sexual acts reportedly began.
Pryor started taking this student to Baton Rouge for LSU football games. They would stay in a hotel and they would inappropriately touch each other while looking at Playboy magazines. Pryor told the victim he was “teaching him how to masturbate.” The student was 12-years-old when the Baton Rouge trips began.
The victim was molested by Pryor between 1999 and 2001 while a student at Bayou View. Going into 9th grade, Pryor attempted more sexual acts with the boy and the boy said, “no.”
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