source : the age
Talent manager Ralph Carr has been sentenced to six years in jail with a non-parole period of four years for the rape and sexual assault of a woman more than 30 years his junior.
He shook his head and sobbed at times, with his head bowed for much of Judge Frank Gucciardo’s sentencing remarks, which spanned almost an hour.
When the term of imprisonment was announced, he moved his face out of view of the camera.
Carr, 66, was notably absent for sentencing on Tuesday, with the County Court taking the unusual step of live-streaming the proceedings.
While there was a television camera allowed into the courtroom to film the sentence, Carr appeared via videolink from the Melbourne Assessment Prison. He’d earlier flagged concerns with travelling in confined spaces, including an ambulance following his earlier arrest.
It follows a three-year suppression order, obtained in March 2023, which concealed Carr’s identity on the basis that the safety of his mental health was at risk if he were publicly named.
Carr has been in custody since last month when a jury convicted him of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault. Rape carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail.
The jury had been told that after consuming alcohol and cocaine together one night in 2023, Carr began consoling the victim over a broken relationship and then raped her.
She had been in contact with the owner of Ralph Carr Management [RCM] over a potential work opportunity, helping with his autobiography and a film script.
The high-profile sport and entertainment manager, who once counted Brownlow medallist Dustin Martin as a client and business partner, and had a brief marriage to singer Tina Arena, maintains that the jury got it wrong. His legal team has flagged a possible appeal.
Carr has described his life since being remanded in prison as “a living hell”.
Defence barrister Dermot Dann, KC, said Carr was experiencing profound shame and nightmares since being jailed, where he is in lockdown for 23 hours a day.
Carr has also applied for a stay, or deferral, in serving his sentence after what Dann described as “the shortest incidents of rape” the legal system had ever seen.
The barrister said that after lifting the suppression order over Carr’s identity, the risks to his client’s mental health became “so much more dire”, with his risk of self-harm elevated by his perceived damage to his reputation and identity.
Dann said his client’s declining mental health warranted mitigation of his sentencing along with Carr’s lack of criminal history, prior good character, and the significant contribution he had made to the community.
No victim impact statement was filed and the woman did not attend the pre-sentence hearing.
Gucciardo was to make his ruling on Carr’s stay application after the sentencing remarks.
If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
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