FLINT, MI – Three years prior to being arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct, video at a Burton Goodwill store captured Eugene Steven Pratt acting suspiciously.
The video, part of which was shown during a Friday, Aug. 19, news conference at the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, shows Pratt staring at a young male shopper before following him to a changing room.
While the man is inside the changing room, Pratt walks to the middle of an aisle where, the sheriff’s office said, he sticks his hand inside his pants and masturbates.
The video, which had been archived by a Goodwill employee who thought it was odd, is one of nearly 100 tips brought forth to the sheriff’s office in the past 36 hours, Sheriff Chris Swanson said Friday.
He said the agency has interviewed additional victims, and that they continue to investigate Pratt, who for more than 30 years worked in Genesee County schools as a teacher, principal and coach.
Sheriff’s Lt. David Kennamer said the video is of note because it shows Pratt’s predatory behavior.
“One of our GHOST mantras is education, and if people don’t understand what to look for, they’re not going to understand when they see it,” he said. “So, that’s why it’s so important to get these things out there.
“One of the first things that happened, in this case, was that he isolated, he found a way to separate (victims) from their friends, from their family, from other people that could witness what was about to transpire, and that was the grooming process.”
The sheriff also said he showed the video in order to try and identify the young man to see if he is a potential victim.
“The message we want to give to the potential victim, we don’t know if there’s been a contact made before this and he was followed there. We don’t know if there was contact made after this video was made, and there was a follow-up assault,” Swanson said. “We don’t know, but what we do know is that fits the MO of our original victims that got him charged and why he’s in jail.”
David Leonard Campbell, an attorney listed on Pratt’s online court file, did not immediately return a message seeking comment for this story.
Related: Former Genesee County school administrator charged with CSC
Pratt, 57, was arrested Tuesday, Aug. 16, at New Paths, a court-ordered addiction center in Flint where he has worked as security and a transportation employee since June 2021. He has since been fired from that position, Swanson said Friday.
He was arraigned Wednesday morning on a single felony count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. If convicted, the charge is punishable by up to life in prison.
Authorities said Pratt likely preyed on vulnerable people and sought out supervisory roles to have access and power over them. The sheriff’s office initially said they believed there were at least 15 victims connected to Pratt, but now say there could be more.
A timeframe for when or if additional charges could be filed against Pratt was not provided Friday, but authorities said they do anticipate submitting requests for more charges to Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton in the future.
The family of one potential victim sent the sheriff’s office notes Swanson said were given to their loved one from Pratt years ago.
The notes discussed repaying debts, getting ice cream at a Burton Dairy Queen restaurant, and emphasizing to the victim that “I care.”
That individual died by suicide in 1999, authorities have said.
Read more: Additional victims likely in case of former school administrator charged with CSC, sheriff says
Authorities said Pratt would often provide gifts to young people in what they called his grooming process. The gifts were sometimes as much as $100 for middle school students.
He would also try to isolate them by making them teacher assistants or keeping them inside at recess.
“He could get that one-on-one time with them so no one else could be around and see what they’re talking about,” Kennamer said. “Then he would start asking questions about their family life and try and gain knowledge.”
Pratt currently remains lodged in the Genesee County Jail.
He is scheduled to appear in court again for a probable cause conference Thursday, Aug. 25, before District Judge Tabitha Marie Marsh.
Read more at The Flint Journal:
Former Burton cop pays back over $3,000 to city as part of plea
2 bound over for trial in July 2021 homicide on Flint’s north side
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