Horsham man Ronald Marks, who worked in kindergartens and child playgroups less than an hour from Naracoorte, has been convicted in the Horsham Magistrate’s Court of accessing child abuse material.

Mr Marks operated a personal business, Wergaia Industries, and was contracted to lead “cultural awareness” programs in playgroups and kindergartens as part of the Victorian Government’s School Readiness Program.

A Wergaia elder whose face was painted on a silo as part of the iconic Sheep Hills silo art, Mr Marks, 74, pleaded guilty to seven charges against him on July 2. His face is now being scrubbed from the silo art in addition to his court sentence.

In July 2021, the National Crime Centre for Missing and Exploited Children made a report to the Australian Federal Police regarding the uploading of child abuse material by Mr Marks to the Yahoo Inc platform.

Within a month, it sparked investigations by the Horsham Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigations team. That culminated in a police raid on September 22, 2021 when police seized six mobile smart phones, six external digital storage devices and four laptop computers. Mr Marks was then arrested and interviewed by police on the same day.

Following a detailed analysis of all devices, police found 982 child abuse images loaded to emails only accessible to Mr Marks.

From Mr Marks’ devices, police believed that Mr Marks accessed the material from October 9, 2012 until the night before his arrest at 11.43pm on September 21, 2021. He was formally charged in January this year.

Detective Senior Constable Cameron Holland said the images were “extremely cruel, disturbing images of actual children under the age of 12”.

The images involving sex, torture by male adults and bestiality led magistrate Kieran Gilligan to comment on them as “vile”. But he also reflected on evidence of Mr Marks’s good character and work with Aboriginals and Aboriginal youth.

The maximum penalty for possession of child abuse material for first offenders in Victoria is 10 years jail.

Granting a non-custodial sentence, Magistrate Gilligan, highlighted Mr Marks’ guilty plea, remorse, procedural delay “which was not caused by you”, no prior or subsequent offences, and an extremely low risk of reoffending in the next five years.

He also considered “your age, your medical condition, your Aboriginality, and your otherwise good character.”

Magistrate Gilligan ordered Mr Marks to pay $7500 and report to Victorian Police for the next eight years.

From the time Mr Marks was first arrested in 2021 he continued to work with a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC) for four years, because of current Victorian laws.

During those four years he attended playgroups and kindergartens to teach “cultural awareness” throughout the West Wimmera Shire, and other regional areas of Victoria. He was formally charged in January, meaning his CCWW also became invalid.

The West Wimmera Shire Council last week confirmed Mr Marks previously visited kindergartens and playgroups across the shire as part of cultural incursions “after his arrest in 2021 but prior to his conviction”. Council acting CEO Brendan Pearce said the organisation was devastated to learn of the conviction.

“We understand that this news is deeply upsetting for families and our broader community,” Mr Pearce said.

“Our kindergartens and playgroups followed all required processes and protocols, including verifying what we believed to be a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC) and ensuring Mr Marks was never unsupervised. The fact that Mr Marks appeared to hold a valid Working with Children Check despite being under investigation is deeply troubling, and we recognise the concern this raises for parents and carers.”

Mr Pearce said the council would work closely with neighbouring early childhood education and care providers and the Department of Education to understand how the council was not made aware of Mr Marks’ arrest in 2021.

“Child safety is, and will always be, our highest priority,” he said.

“We are treating this matter with the seriousness and sensitivity it deserves, and we remain committed to being open with our community.”

Council staff also said at the time of each visit Mr Marks held a valid WWCC “which was sighted in accordance with council’s standard procedures”.

“Council had no knowledge of the arrest or any investigation involving Mr Marks,” the statement said.

Presentations by Mr Marks included stories about his “childhood and heritage, displaying Aboriginal artefacts, and demonstrating aspects of traditional indigenous culture, under the supervision of teachers and educators”.

“At no stage was Mr Marks left alone with children during any visit. Council policies strictly prohibit visitors from being unsupervised with children. All incursions undergo a thorough risk assessment, and staff are always present.

“West Wimmera Shire Council has no ongoing or future association with Mr Marks.”

Barengi Gadjin Land Council chairperson Chris Harrison said Mr Marks had provided services on behalf of BGLC.

“Upon learning of the conviction, we immediately terminated all services provided by Mr Marks and launched a full review of his past involvement with our programs.,” Mr Harrison said.

Meanwhile, the Yarriambiack Shire responsible for Silo Art at Sheep’s Hill, which is two hours north east of Naracoorte, has confirmed it will be removing the image of Mr Marks “as a matter of priority”.

“…we are collaborating with both the artist and Barengi Gadjin Land Council representatives to begin work on the redesign of the silo art,” CEO Tammy Smith said.

The Victorian Liberal opposition Education minister Jess Wilson said the matter exposed the complete failure of the WWCC system and child safety regulations. She said parliament should be recalled to immediately address the flaws in the system.

The state government responded claiming it had commissioned an urgent review of childhood education safety and the WWCC.

This article appeared in The Naracoorte News, 16 July 2025.