Silverfist64
January 8th, 2010, 04:01 PM
A former Bethlehem middle school teacher whose nature program for seventh-graders won national acclaim apparently killed himself Thursday about an hour before he was scheduled to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage boy, a charge that shocked the community and cost him his career.
Gregory G. Ritter, 45, a longtime Boy Scout volunteer and 20-year National Guardsman, was found dead next to a picnic table at the apartment complex in the Poconos where he recently moved, according to police, who said he had a gunshot wound to the head.
Monroe County Coroner David Thomas said an autopsy will be performed today, and although the manner of death won't be ruled on until afterward, authorities believe it was suicide.
A caretaker at the Village Court Apartments off Route 390 in the village of Canadensis discovered the body, according to Barrett Township police Chief Steven Williams .
Court records show Ritter was scheduled to attend a plea hearing in Pike County Court at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Williams said Ritter was going to plead guilty to sexual assault charges.
But Ritter's attorney, Mark Powell of Scranton, said it was no guarantee that Ritter would have pleaded guilty.
''He never admitted guilt to me,'' Powell said. ''There was a plea offered to him, but unfortunately we'll never know his decision.''
Powell said he spoke to Ritter around 3 p.m. Wednesday and did not get the impression Ritter was suicidal. But the attorney acknowledged his client ''had a great deal of concerns about the risk of going to trial.''
''We're all in shock, sadly disappointed,'' Powell said. ''He was a man of wonderful character who accomplished many things. I hope he's judged by his past conduct when he accomplished so much in the learning field, in the wilderness field and for his country.''
Ritter was accused of assaulting a 14-year-old boy at his former home in Pike County in the fall of 2008.
The boy, who met Ritter at a Boy Scout camp in the Poconos, testified at a preliminary hearing last March that Ritter showed him photos of shirtless boys from a camp he ran and might have drugged him before sexually assaulting him.
The boy said that after looking at the photos on Ritter's school-issued laptop and watching pornographic videos featuring Russian boys, lesbians and gay men, he and Ritter engaged in lewd acts in Ritter's Palmyra Township home. He said the assaults occurred on a few occasions.
Ritter, an East Hills Middle School teacher who in 1994 founded the highly touted and award-winning Monagacci nature program for seventh-graders that includes camping trips, allegedly sent lewd text messages to the boy after the encounters. They were intercepted by the boy's mother, sparking the police investigation.
After his arrest last Feb. 19, Ritter was permanently barred from the Boy Scouts and suspended by the Bethlehem Area School District.
Over the past year, Ritter cut off communication with several friends, according to Mike Rotondo of Bethlehem Township, a retired Bethlehem teacher who started the Monagacci program with Ritter.
''He was a very proud man and the accusations were devastating,'' Rotondo said.
The Monagacci program uses a nature theme to enhance core subjects -- math, English, social studies and science. The program has been so successful and popular that East Hills initiated a lottery system for students wishing to join it.
In 2000, Ritter, a Dieruff High School graduate, was selected as a Disney American Teacher Award honoree for his work with the Monagacci program. There were 70,000 nominees for the annual award, and 33 teachers nationwide were chosen.
Rotondo said he never saw Ritter display inappropriate behavior toward students. Rotondo said when his son was in middle school, he enrolled in the Monagacci program, something Rotondo would have never allowed if he thought Ritter was a predator.
''He didn't have a family and teaching was his life,'' Rotondo said.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5ritter.7140919jan08,0,5087654.story
Gregory G. Ritter, 45, a longtime Boy Scout volunteer and 20-year National Guardsman, was found dead next to a picnic table at the apartment complex in the Poconos where he recently moved, according to police, who said he had a gunshot wound to the head.
Monroe County Coroner David Thomas said an autopsy will be performed today, and although the manner of death won't be ruled on until afterward, authorities believe it was suicide.
A caretaker at the Village Court Apartments off Route 390 in the village of Canadensis discovered the body, according to Barrett Township police Chief Steven Williams .
Court records show Ritter was scheduled to attend a plea hearing in Pike County Court at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. Williams said Ritter was going to plead guilty to sexual assault charges.
But Ritter's attorney, Mark Powell of Scranton, said it was no guarantee that Ritter would have pleaded guilty.
''He never admitted guilt to me,'' Powell said. ''There was a plea offered to him, but unfortunately we'll never know his decision.''
Powell said he spoke to Ritter around 3 p.m. Wednesday and did not get the impression Ritter was suicidal. But the attorney acknowledged his client ''had a great deal of concerns about the risk of going to trial.''
''We're all in shock, sadly disappointed,'' Powell said. ''He was a man of wonderful character who accomplished many things. I hope he's judged by his past conduct when he accomplished so much in the learning field, in the wilderness field and for his country.''
Ritter was accused of assaulting a 14-year-old boy at his former home in Pike County in the fall of 2008.
The boy, who met Ritter at a Boy Scout camp in the Poconos, testified at a preliminary hearing last March that Ritter showed him photos of shirtless boys from a camp he ran and might have drugged him before sexually assaulting him.
The boy said that after looking at the photos on Ritter's school-issued laptop and watching pornographic videos featuring Russian boys, lesbians and gay men, he and Ritter engaged in lewd acts in Ritter's Palmyra Township home. He said the assaults occurred on a few occasions.
Ritter, an East Hills Middle School teacher who in 1994 founded the highly touted and award-winning Monagacci nature program for seventh-graders that includes camping trips, allegedly sent lewd text messages to the boy after the encounters. They were intercepted by the boy's mother, sparking the police investigation.
After his arrest last Feb. 19, Ritter was permanently barred from the Boy Scouts and suspended by the Bethlehem Area School District.
Over the past year, Ritter cut off communication with several friends, according to Mike Rotondo of Bethlehem Township, a retired Bethlehem teacher who started the Monagacci program with Ritter.
''He was a very proud man and the accusations were devastating,'' Rotondo said.
The Monagacci program uses a nature theme to enhance core subjects -- math, English, social studies and science. The program has been so successful and popular that East Hills initiated a lottery system for students wishing to join it.
In 2000, Ritter, a Dieruff High School graduate, was selected as a Disney American Teacher Award honoree for his work with the Monagacci program. There were 70,000 nominees for the annual award, and 33 teachers nationwide were chosen.
Rotondo said he never saw Ritter display inappropriate behavior toward students. Rotondo said when his son was in middle school, he enrolled in the Monagacci program, something Rotondo would have never allowed if he thought Ritter was a predator.
''He didn't have a family and teaching was his life,'' Rotondo said.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5ritter.7140919jan08,0,5087654.story