An award-winning former school assistant head who appeared in a Channel 4 show is due in court accused of sexual assault and having indecent images of children.
Gareth Ritter, 43, was assistant head and music teacher at Cardiff’s Willows High and also conductor of Ebbw Valley Brass Band and the Lydbrook Band.
However, the teacher has stepped back from both bands and has had his licence to teach suspended after he was arrested and charged with sexual offences.
The conductor appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court in November 2024 and his case will call at Crown Court later this year.
He is due to face trial at Cardiff Crown Court in November accused of sexual assault, two counts of making an indecent image of a child, and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child.
The teacher was among staff to appear in the Channel 4 series Educating Cardiff, which followed the daily happenings at the inner city Willows High School.
The alleged offences took place between May 2015 and July 2015 – a month before the TV show aired.
South Wales Police said in a statement: ‘Gareth Ritter from Monmouthshire appeared at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on November 5, 2024.’
A Cardiff Council spokesman said: ‘The council is unable to comment until criminal proceedings are concluded.’
An interim suspension order has been imposed by the Education Workforce Council (EWC) – the statutory teaching regulator in Wales.
The EWC lists an interim suspension order on Gareth John Ritter’s registration as of December 12, 2024. It says he is ‘ineligible for registration – subject to interim suspension order’.
Industry publication 4barsrest reported that Ritter resigned as musical director of Ebbw Valley Brass Band and the Lydbrook Band earlier this week.
Ebbw Valley Brass Band issued a statement to the publication saying Ritter, its founding musical director, had resigned from his position ‘due to personal reasons’.
The band is advertising for a new musical director, asking would-be candidates to get in touch ‘in complete confidence’, according to a social media post.
Ritter has also quit as musical director and composer of the Lydbrook Band. It lists a vacancy for a musical director on its website.
The married father-of-two also makes pens on commission, and is a director of Brass Bands Wales, an advocacy group for brass bands across the country.
has contacted the bands and Brass Bands Wales for further comment.
Ritter was known for his use of technology in the classroom, including motion capture technology, and won the 2013 Pearson award for innovative use of technology.
He declined to comment on the criminal charges he faces, and declined to confirm he had resigned from the band, WalesOnline reported.
Ritter was contacted for comment.