Celebrity manager Ralph Carr set to learn fate for rape, bid to halt sentencing

Celebrity agent Ralph Carr is set to learn his fate for the rape of a woman decades his junior.

The 66-year-old, whose full name is Ralph Carnovale-Carr, was taken into custody four weeks ago after a jury found him guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

Carr is expected to return before the County Court of Victoria on Tuesday morning as Judge Frank Gucciardo delivers his reasons for sentence and rules on a defence effort to postpone sentencing, pending an appeal against the convictions.

Known as a stay, the rare legal move would place Carr’s sentence on hold and open the door for him to apply for bail in the Court of Appeal.

During the trial, jurors were told Carr sexually assaulted and raped the woman after a night spent drinking and using cocaine in early 2023.

The pair, who were known to each other, had met up earlier the same day to discuss work opportunities at Carr’s company, Ralph Carr Management — including on an autobiography he was planning to publish.

Last week, Carr’s barrister Dermot Dann KC asked Judge Gucciardo to halt 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.

The court was told stays on sentence are a rarely used power held by the courts and, if granted, Carr’s case could potentially be the first time a rape sentence had been stayed in Victoria.

Prosecutor Matthew Fisher urged Judge Gucciardo not to stay Carr’s sentence.

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