// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Educating Cardiff teacher admits sexually assaulting teenage girl
Gareth Ritter was giving defence in his trial when he changed his plea
A teacher who featured in the Channel 4 documentary series Educating Cardiff has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.
Gareth Ritter, 44, of Bryngwyn, in Monmouthshire, was in the middle of giving evidence in his defence when his barrister asked for the charge to be put to him again.
Ritter, who was also a prominent member of a number of brass bands, was asked to stand up and, when asked how he pleaded, he said "guilty".
He was told all of the charges he had admitted carried a custodial sentence and the court would consider immediate custody.
Ritter had previously denied intentionally touching the teenager sexually without consent when he was in his 30s.
Earlier in the trial, the jury was told that, following an event in Cardiff, Ritter offered to drive the victim home but stopped at a flat he owned in Cardiff Bay, saying he had to check it before a new tenant arrived and invited her in.
Once inside, she said he touched her bottom while they stood on a balcony overlooking the city and later kissed her in the hallway.
The woman, now in her 20s, said: "One hand went around my back, it dropped to my bum and he lent in and kissed me.
"I remember being against the wall, I couldn't step back, I remember him kissing me. I turned my face away, my hands were on him, I wasn't forceful, I held out my hands on his chest. It was a light push but not forceful."