TAVARES, Fla.—A former high school teacher has been found guilty of sexually battering a foreign exchange student last year, along with other charges related to the incident.
A Lake County jury found Dmitri V. Kostyunina, 51, guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, delivery of cannabis to a person under 18 and sexual battery last week in Tavares, according to Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson’s office.
Kostyunina was employed as a science teacher at Apopka High School when he was arrested in October 2023 after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) contacted Mount Dora Police Department and stated a “sexual incident” occurred at Kostyunina’s home in Mount Dora. The victim told authorities that Kostyunina gave him marijuana edibles and alcohol and performed sex acts on the boy in two different rooms in his home in September 2023. The boy, from Italy, had been staying with Kostyunina since August as part of a foreign exchange student program, Gladson’s office said. The boy’s age has never been released.
During an interview, Kostyunina admitted giving the boy THC edibles, wine and beer and claimed he “blacked out” and woke up to evidence of a sexual encounter, and “he knew he made a mistake,” his arrest affidavit states.
“Kostyunin’s actions not only violated the trust placed in him but also endangered the well-being of a child within our community,” Gladson said. “Instead of being able to learn abroad, make lasting friendships, and take in some of the amazing things our country has to offer, those experiences and memories will forever be tarnished because of Kostyunin.”
Kostyunina has been held in the Lake County Jail on no bond since his arrest; he will be sentenced at a later date.
TAVARES, Florida—A jury has found a former Lake County firefighter guilty of sexually battering and molesting a young boy 15 years ago.
Steven Trent Ellis, 52, of Umatilla was arrested in July 2019 by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after a tip and subsequent search warrant revealed multiple images of child pornography on his computer. Following his arrest, “several” individuals came forward and reported he had sexually abused them, according to a probable cause affidavit.
FDLE met with a victim in 2019 who said he had been abused by Ellis four to five times in 2008 when he was under 12 years old; his exact age is redacted from the affidavit. The boy and his family reported the abuse to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in 2008 and the case remained open for more than 10 years pending further corroborating evidence.
Steven Ellis is seen here in his 2019 mugshot.
The statements the victim made in his original complaint in 2008 were consistent with statements he made in 2019; he told agents what Ellis did to him in great detail and said it happened at the home Ellis lived in on Fishermans Road in Paisley at the time.
In October 2019, Ellis was charged with sexual battery on a child under 12 and lewd or lascivious molestation, in addition to the child pornography charges. In 2020, he pleaded no contest to the child pornography charges and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in April 2021, and on Monday, Ellis stood trial for two counts of sexual battery on a child under 12 and one count of lewd or lascivious molestation. He was found guilty by a jury on all three counts and sentenced to life in prison.
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.
PHOTO: City of Center Hill
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.
William Pruitt PHOTO: Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office
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.
