A former teacher has been spared jail after admitting to sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
Gareth Ritter, 44, who featured in the Channel 4 documentary series Educating Cardiff, had initially denied the offence but changed his plea to guilty in October after giving evidence at trial.
He also previously admitted two counts of making an indecent photograph of a child and another of distributing an indecent photograph of a child.
On Wednesday, Judge Dyfed Llion Thomas sentenced Ritter to 33 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 30 months.
The court heard that Ritter had offered to give the victim a lift home following an event in Cardiff in 2015, before telling her he needed to make a short stop at a flat in Cardiff Bay.
“You made comments there of how she looked, and how she dressed, which made her feel awkward and uncomfortable,” the judge said.
“You put your hand on her lower back, uninvited, and then moved it down to her backside, again uninvited.”
The court heard that the victim moved away from Ritter and into the living room of the property, where he asked if she wanted to see the bedroom.
Ritter moved towards the girl, so her back was against the wall, before kissing her.
“She didn’t want any of this sexual contact that you inflicted on her that night,” the judge said. “She made it quite clear that she didn’t want any form of sexual contact.”
The court heard the victim pushed Ritter away and told him “how she was a good girl and didn’t do this (sort of thing) because she went to a Christian school” and that “her father will be expecting her”. While driving her home, Ritter told his victim that she should not tell anyone about what had happened that evening.
The victim told police about the assault when they contacted her about indecent images of her found in Ritter’s possession, which the court heard he claimed had been sent to him by someone else.
The judge said: “(The victim) told the court during the trial in evidence what many, many people who are victims of sexual assault say – who is going to believe me?
“Well, she is believed, Mr Ritter, and everyone knows that what she told the court was true.”
On Wednesday, the judge said he suspended Ritter’s sentence with a “certain degree of reluctance”, describing his offending as a “cruel assault on a young woman by an older man” who had “isolated her” by taking her to the flat.
He added: “I think you targeted her on that night, you took her to a location where you knew you would be alone.”
Ritter, of Bryngwyn, Monmouthshire, was described in court as being well-known in his local community and someone who had been respected in his role as a brass band conductor.
Jenny Yeo, defending, said Ritter had lost both his “long-serving” career in teaching and in music as a result of his offending and was seeking therapy.
She added that he had no previous convictions and was “sorry beyond words for the stress and pain he has caused” his victim, adding: “He has learned a very hard lesson and he assured me and the court that it will never be repeated.”
If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call Childline free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331
