TAVARES, Florida—The former police chief of Center Hill, arrested last month for raping a 14-year-old girl in Sumter County while holding her at gunpoint, is now facing stalking charges in Lake County.
William Ray Pruitt, 56, of Weirsdale, was arrested early Friday morning for stalking and aggravated stalking, according to Lake County Sheriff’s Office online booking records. Pruitt served as Center Hill Police chief in 1998 and 1999 and currently owns Pruitt Water in Leesburg, according to his booking information.
Pruitt is accused stalking the girl beginning in October 2021, when she was just 15 years old and continuing for more than a year, according to a probable cause affidavit.
In December 2022, the victim reported an incident that occurred at a local high school after hours to a school resource deputy. The following day, an LCSO detective spoke with the girl’s mother, and she said the girl met Pruitt around March 2020 when she was 14 years old and over time, she began to suspect Pruitt was “grooming” her teenage daughter and possibly having sexual relationship with her.
The victim’s mother said the girl denied the relationship until October 2022 when she disclosed three incidents of sexual battery in 2020 when she was 14, two in Sumter County and one in an unknown location, according to the affidavit.
The girl said she denied the allegations because Pruitt would harass and threaten her, including threatening to kill himself. He told the teen he was an “ex-cop” and he had detective friends who hacked her phone and tracked all her activity for him. She also said he became “controlling and possessive,” the affidavit states.
In 2021, the victim’s mom found a note on her tablet that confirmed her suspicions that Pruitt was having a relationship with her daughter. At one point, the girl went to stay with her father to distance herself from Pruitt and a private investigator, believed to be hired by Pruitt, showed up where the girl was. Due to heavy redaction in the affidavit, it is unclear where the private investigator showed up.
In November 2021, the girl saw Pruitt drive by her home in Lake County; she called LCSO and later filed for an injunction. She was granted the injunction but dropped it in February 2022 under the advice of her attorney because she was not being cooperative with the process, according to the affidavit. Sometime after February, the victim turned 16, and any further stalking became a misdemeanor, the detective noted.
In May 2022, a homemade sign appeared at an undisclosed location with “Ray Liberty” on one side and “Libby” on the other. Pruitt is alleged to have told the victim that if he got her pregnant from the sexual battery, he would name their daughter Liberty Ray, after himself and his mother, the affidavit states. In July, another sign with “8” “0” “8” appeared across from the girl’s home. In a forensic interview, the girl said Pruitt would send her “0” and that meant she had to “stay inside the circle” and she could not have any other friends or trust anyone but him.
In August 2022, Pruitt followed the girl from her high school, trying to force her off the road as she made her way to her cousin’s apartment in Eustis. The victim’s mother called Eustis Police Department and Pruitt called LCSO, claiming to be a “father figure” to the girl. Later the same month, one of Pruitt’s employees followed her and attempted to give her a note from Pruitt; the girl pulled into Tavares Police Department and reported the incident. Less than two months later, at an October high school football game, a different employee of Pruitt’s approached the girl and asked, “How’s Libby?’ referring to their hypothetical child. The girl also reported getting anonymous texts referring to “Will.”
Almost exactly a month later, another homemade sign showed up on the side of State Road 19 near County Road 48, that said, “He’s OK!” and “3.” Pruitt had just had shoulder surgery and 3 is his favorite number, according to the affidavit.
And the stalking still continued.
Thanksgiving weekend, the girl spotted Pruitt driving by her house in a beige jeep that did not belong to him; and on Dec. 1, as the girl parked in her usual spot at her high school, she spotted yet another homemade sign taped in front of her parking spot that read “Liberty 3.” The sign was located and collected by the SRD and the following day, the teen filed for an injunction, and it was granted, according to the affidavit.
On Dec. 7, Sumter County Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant for Pruitt for two counts of sexual battery on a victim 12 or older while utilizing a deadly weapon. According to that probable cause affidavit, Pruitt held a gun to the girl on two separate occasions and raped her in his truck.
He was arrested Dec. 9 by the U.S. Marshal Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force with the assistance of the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office on a traffic stop in Live Oak. According to that probable cause affidavit, agents received information Pruitt may be attempting “suicide by cop,” but he was taken into custody without incident. Pruitt was held in the Suwannee County Jail until Friday when he was transferred to the Lake County Jail, where he is currently being held, and arrested for stalking and aggravated stalking.
