Comments about ‘Ex-seminary principal pleads not guilty to sex charges’

After all the evil and harm that Pratt has caused, he should at least be man enough to plead guilty and admit to what he has done.

If he is guilty "Be a Man" and take the fall. If the girl is making this whole thing up....She is one messed up little girl and her parents need to get her help. I don't know.. this one has alot of questions on both side???? I hope the true comes out in the end. It may or It may not? This is just a wait and see....

Oh, Brother Pratt. What were you thinking?

Before all the sick people who want minors to be legal chime in, She was 16, I don't care of she was 17 years, 364 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes. A minor is a minor, the law is the law. He chose to mess up his family's life.

We've heard her side of the story. I'm anxious to know his side and hear the defense. He obviously put himself in some compromising positions - which we can all learn from, but not sure about all of the sexual encounters.

The most confusing part of her story is she said he checked her out of school and they went up the canyon for another "encounter." Since when does the school allow someone other than a legal guardian check someone out of school?

Could this be a case of another girl crying wolf?

Still no wrongful termination lawsuit against the LDS CHurch. COme on man, you don;t have to wait for the case to be resolved to sue, unless of course they fired you for the right reasons.

...Really? Not guilty? Doubt it.

I'll be shocked if her testimony was fake.

THIS MAKES YOU NOT WANT TO TRUST ANY MAN IN AUTHORITY IN ANY RELIGION.

Now let the games begin. Does the girl really want to testify in open court? Can't both sides just make this go away rather then dragging themselves and us through it?

If Pratt actually believes the doctrine he has been teaching to LDS students for years then life in prison will be the least of his worries. If he actually gets acquitted from these charges then he better pray that he will live on earth forever because his eternal reward will not be fun.
Eternal Punishment is God's punishment.

Perhaps this is just strategy on Mike Pratt's part to be able to be with his family a little bit more. Once he goes in prison he ain't coming out for a very long time. So it is a stall tactic to have more time with his family.

Is he pleading not guilty because he didn't do it or because he thinks he did nothing wrong according to his gods law?

Utah is a right to work state, an employer can fire you for ANY reason. The only thing he could go after from them is unemployment if he were fired without cause.

At this phase of the judicial process it is typical for the accused to plead not guilty. Defense attorneys frequently feel this will position them better for a plea bargain, allowing them to find out better what evidence really is out there. Complete truth has not been disclosed yet. I think rather lengthy and costly penalties are likely to be the outcome.

The reason he entered a not guilty plea is so that he can go to trial. It's the american way to not confess, even though he knows he's guilty so he can try to get a shorter prison term. Confessing would be the worst thing for him in terms of the "justice" system. It's sick, but that's the way it works.

Who is lying. Who is telling the truth. My guess is the "real" truth lies somewhere in between. I am suspicious of the girl and her testimony. Alot of it seems made up. I don't know - something just doesn't feel right. Pratt is guilty - the question is how guilty. The bottom line here is this should have never happened in the first place. If the girl was coming on to Pratt then he should have immediately stopped it ... but he didn't.

Too many independant witnesses saw them together, away from school. Too many saved text messages on her phone. I really doubt this girl is making this up.

Pratt says he is not guilty. That means he had NO sexual relations with the girl. Sexual relations defined here as those considered as rape. The girl could be lying trying to make herself appear as the victim and sensationalizing the whole thing to take her hurt out on Pratt. If Pratt is truly not guilty then why did the church dismiss him and why for heaven sake didn't he say he was innocent right from the start? This is going to be a very interesting trial.

Prosecuters dont press charges until they have some evidence to back up the claims. Cell phone records, attendence records...Teachers have a position of trust and MUST maintain professional distance. You cant have kids skipping in your office or transporting them away from school in your car no matter what the "event" is. If its sex thats the "event" then well you just broke the law. Adults have to be the adults in any situation. You dont just fall on top of someone cause she "tempted" me. You maintain your distance and report the student for truancy. Sorry folks I have a hard time working up sympathy for this teacher. All I can say is he is lucky it wasnt my 16 year old seminary student. If hes innocent then boy did he skirt real close to the edge of inappropriate behavior.

I'll wait to see what happens but I am trusting this girl less and less as I read her testimony.