A distinguished former assistant headteacher, Gareth Ritter Wales Paedophile, recognised with awards and featured in a Channel 4 program, is scheduled to appear in court facing charges of sexual assault and possession of obscene photos of minors.
Gareth Ritter, 43, served as the assistant head and music instructor at Willows High in Cardiff, in addition to conducting the Ebbw Valley Brass Band and the Lydbrook Band.
The teacher has withdrawn from both bands and had his teaching licence suspended following his arrest and charges for sexual crimes.
The conductor attended Cardiff Magistrates’ Court in November 2024, and his case is scheduled to be heard at Crown Court later this year.
Gareth Ritter is scheduled to stand trial at Cardiff Crown Court in November, facing charges of sexual assault, two counts of creating an indecent photograph of a child, and one act of disseminating an indecent image of a child.
The educator was among the personnel featured in the Channel 4 series Educating Cardiff, which documented the daily events at the inner-city Willows High School.
The purported incidents occurred between May 2015 and July 2015, one month prior to the television show’s premiere.
South Wales Police stated: ‘Gareth Ritter of Monmouthshire appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on November 5, 2024.’
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council stated: ‘The council cannot comment until the criminal procedures are finalised.’
The Education Workforce Council (EWC), the statutory regulator for teaching in Wales, has enacted an interim suspension order.
The EWC has imposed an interim suspension order on Gareth John Ritter’s registration effective December 12, 2024. He is deemed ‘ineligible for registration – subject to an interim suspension order.’
Industry publication 4barsrest announced that Gareth Ritter resigned from his position as musical director of Ebbw Valley Brass Band and Lydbrook Band earlier this week.
Ebbw Valley Brass Band released a statement to the press indicating that Ritter, its founding musical director, had resigned from his position ‘due to personal reasons.’
The band is soliciting applications for a new musical director, inviting prospective candidates to contact them ‘in complete confidence,’ as stated in a social media announcement.
Gareth Ritter has resigned as the musical director and composer of the Lydbrook Band. The website advertises an opening for a musical director.
The married father of two also crafts pens on commission and serves as a director of Brass Bands Wales, an advocacy organisation for brass bands nationwide.
Gareth Ritter was recognised for his integration of technology in the classroom, particularly motion capture technology, and received the 2013 Pearson Award for innovative technological application.
He refrained from commenting on the criminal accusations against him and did not acknowledge his resignation from the band.
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