Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.telegraph.co.uk
A former teacher who featured in the Channel 4 documentary series Educating Cardiff has been spared jail after admitting to sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
Gareth Ritter, 44, of Bryngwyn, Monmouthshire, had initially denied the offence, but changed his plea to guilty in October after giving evidence at his 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 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 whether 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.”
