Disgraced celebrity agent Ralph Carr jailed for six years for raping woman

WARNING: graphic content

Celebrity agent Ralph Carr began to cry as a judge jailed him for six years over the rape of a young woman.

The 66-year-old, whose full name is Ralph Carnovale-Carr, was jailed for six years in the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday, four weeks after a jury found him guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Carr kept his head low for much of the hearing, but could be seen crying and shaking his head at times as Judge Frank Gucciardo delivered his reasons for sentence.

His sentencing remarks were filmed by a TV camera and will be broadcast.

Giving the victim the pseudonym Sally, Judge Gucciardo said the young woman had previously worked at Carr’s company, Ralph Carr Management, but left the employment after only a few months.

In early 2023, Sally reached out to Carr via email to let him know she’d seen his company’s Facebook page tagged in a group called “Local Girls 21+” and suggesting he have previous employees removed from social media access.

In response, Carr thanked her and said he “missed her being around” before offering her work on an “exciting project”.

Judge Gucciardo said the pair met up to discuss the role, with the woman giving evidence she decided to stay and socialise because it was “fun hanging out with Ralph”.

After a night spent drinking and consuming cocaine, Carr and the woman were in his bedroom where she was upset and venting about her boyfriend.

The judge said Carr pulled her from a couch to the bed and comforted her, remarking; “I won’t let anything happen to you”.

Carr then attempted to kiss her, with the woman responding “you need to stop, I don’t want this”.

“You’re just so sexy,” he said.

“I’m not going to sleep you need to let me have sex with you.”

Carr then raped the woman, first with his finger or fingers and then with his penis before she punched him in the face and called him a “f..king rapist”.

Judge Gucciardo said that while Carr’s crimes were not premeditated or planned, his conduct was “appalling”.

“Rape is a crime of violence this was committed by you in an egregious breach of trust,” he said.

“You chose to abuse that trust in the most abhorrent manner.”

The judge accepted the evidence of more than a dozen character references tendered on behalf of Carr that he was a person of “prior good character” and the offending was an isolated incident.

He told the court he accepted Carr’s mental health had suffered after he was outed as a rapist and his successful career was likely at an end.

Judge Gucciardo then turned to a legal effort by Carr’s defence to place the sentence on hold, pending an appeal against conviction to the Court of Appeal.

Last week, Carr’s barrister Dermot Dann KC asked the judge to stay sentencing, arguing the jury’s verdicts was the “most obvious miscarriage of justice” he’d seen in his 35-year career as a trial barrister.

He submitted there was a “real and genuine” prospect of Carr’s convictions being overturned.

Mr Dann also argued his client was “going through hell” in prison, with his mental health deteriorating, and had pinned his hopes on the outcome of the stay application.

“If that goal that hope is removed we would say the situation is particularly concerning, particularly dark,” he said.

Judge Gucciardo said he law was clear that a sentence should only be stayed in rare and exceptional circumstances where it finds there is a real possibility a miscarriage of justice occurred.

“I have no such sense in this case,” he said.

The judge said juries are entrusted with determining guilty or innocence and while Mr Dann had raised inconsistencies in the victim’s account, it was for the jury to decide if evidence was incredible or implausible.

He said the jury had hear all the relevant evidence and Mr Dann had comprehensively questioned her and highlighted each alleged inconsistency for the jury’s decision.

Judge Gucciardo refused Carr’s bid to stay the sentence.

Carr will first become eligible for parole after serving four years in prison, while his legal team have indicated they plan to appeal the convictions.

Carr rose to prominence as an entertainment manager in the 1990s, representing several high-profile musicians and performers before moving into sports management where he signed former Richmond superstar Dustin Martin as a client.

He was unmasked as a convicted rapist in early August following the jury’s verdict after the final of a series of suppression orders, that barred media from identifying him in connection to the case, ended.

If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.