Two charities have severed ties with mental health fundraiser Warren “Wazza” Wright, after learning he was placed on the sex offender registry for eight years.
Warren “Wazza” Wright, who is walking, running and cycling across the state to raise awareness and funds for mental health, was reportedly convicted of sexually assaulting a “vulnerable” teenager at a Mildura caravan park in 2021.
He reportedly bought the 16-year-old girl alcohol before sexually assaulting her as she showered.
He was placed on the sex offender registry for eight years in tandem with an 18-month community corrections order.
R U OK? confirmed on Friday that Mr Wright was currently not representing them while on his walk, despite claiming he was fundraising for the charity on social media.
Mr Wright was stood down from working with mental health charity Beyond Blue after reports emerged of his conduct in 2021.
His Facebook page, which was removed on Thursday, gave daily updates on his progress, where he’s sleeping and who he is meeting along his trek, while asking for accommodation to stay in.
Concerns are growing within regional Victorian towns as the man, whose history is unknown to many, continues his journey across the southwest of the state.
On June 5, Willaura’s Wendy Seggie offered her couch for Mr Wright to stay on for two nights, not knowing the “horrific” crime he committed three years earlier.
Her six-year-old granddaughter and two daughters, aged 19 and 20, were living at the home while Mr Wright stayed on the couch.
“I offered for him to stay at my bookshop in Willaura but then thought there was no heating, so we offered him to stay in the lounge,” she told the Herald Sun.
“When he left there was something still bothering me about him and that’s when I found the post (online) about what he had done in Mildura.
“I feel sick and so violated that a person on the sex offenders register can just go and stay wherever they like and not have to inform people of their history.”
Ms Seggie said she’s struggling to live with the fact she let the man into her home with open arms.
“I have to live with this everyday knowing I put my family at risk of harm,” she added.
“I’m afraid to go outside in the evenings by myself because I’m afraid he will come back.
“I constantly feel sick knowing I had him in my home … it’s absolutely horrifying.”
Mr Wright had allegedly been seen loitering around the Hamilton area over the past week, with multiple community members taking to social media to record and track his movements.
He was seen, and subsequently removed from, the front gate of Monivae College on Thursday and later from a Hamilton skate park early on Friday.
Ballarat woman Paula Platek said she was concerned for her community’s safety.
“Absolutely people should not let him stay with them,” she said.
“He was asking multiple people, and those people probably have no idea what he’s done.
“This man sexually assaulted a young girl, it’s terrifying.”