Top Australian sports and entertainment manager Ralph Carr can now be revealed as the high-profile man who was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting a woman.

A suppression order similar to the one enjoyed by convicted rapist Tom Silvagni had been in place for three years to protect his mental health and safety.

However, the court heard on Monday that Carr’s legal team would no longer be pursuing an extension of the order – after it expired the moment the verdict was delivered – and the secrecy bid was formally dropped. 

Carr, prosecuted under his full name Ralph Carnovale-Carr, was found guilty last Tuesday of two charges of rape and a charge of sexual assault. 

The young woman accused Carr of raping her after she claimed they drank wine and did cocaine together at his West Melbourne home one night in March 2023. 

He has always denied the allegations. 

However, a jury of nine women and three men believed the victim and took less than three days to return unanimous guilty verdicts.

Carr was married to Aussie pop star Tina Arena for four years between 1995 and 1999, after managing her early career and her transition from teen pop sensation.

Celebrity agent Ralph Carr (right) arrives at court with his barrister Dermot Dann KC (left). Carr was later found guilty of rape and a suppression order has now been lifted

Carr was married to Aussie pop star Tina Arena (above). Arena has previously described their marriage as disgraceful

Carr managed his close mate and AFL legend Dustin Martin

In the past, Carr managed several Aussie stars including Vanessa Amorosi (left) and Kate Ceberano (right)

Carr, who was still active in the entertainment industry up until his remand on Friday, has represented A-listers like Kate Ceberano and Richard Wilkins.

He was also famous for his business associations as agent for AFL champion Dustin Martin and hit singer Vanessa Amorosi.

Carr and Martin’s close friendship is well-known in AFL circles and the pair were in a commercial partnership with developer Chris Bissiotis. (Martin issued a statement after the non-publication order was lifted on Monday saying he had ended his professional relationship with Carr ‘effective immediately’.)

Arena has previously described her marriage to Carr as ‘disgraceful’ and said she ‘went back to zero’ financially as a consequence of it. 

She added that it was ‘a wonderful business transaction, from his perspective’.

Arena wrote in her autobiography, Now I Can Dance, that she felt ‘disconnected’ to Carr on their wedding day.

She also said that the pair had a disagreement when she refused to sell photos of the ceremony to a women’s magazine. The Mail approached Arena for comment. 

What Ralph Carr was accused of in court

Carr maintained his innocence throughout the 13-day trial

That evening, Carr and the victim returned to his Melbourne home after a footy game ended, the court was told. 

They allegedly used more cocaine before the accused said he was tired and wanted to go to bed.

The jury heard that Carr got into bed while the woman followed him into his room and sat on a lounge chair in front of the bed.

The court was told the victim became upset and confided in the accused about ‘difficulties’ she had experienced in a recent relationship.

Carr then allegedly picked her up and pulled her onto his bed as she started crying.

The court heard he then allegedly tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away. He then touched her breast, waist and buttocks, and attempted to put his hand between her legs.

The woman tried to push him off and told him to stop, the court heard.

‘I don’t want this,’ the woman told him.

Carr is well-known among Australia’s A-listers. Above, at a party in Melbourne when he was younger

Prosecutor Matt Fisher told the jury the accused then said, ‘You are so sexy,’ and, ‘I can’t stop, I need your help to sleep, help me.’

The jury heard that the pair remained on the bed but separated, with the woman holding a pillow against her chest and quietly crying under the blanket.

Carr then pulled the blanket off her and penetrated her with his finger, the jury was told. 

The court heard the woman ‘did not respond’ when she felt Carr’s hand and closed her eyes.

She allegedly heard and felt the accused removing his pants, before feeling him penetrate her with his penis.

Prosecutor Fisher told the jury the rapist penetrated her a second time in quick succession.

The jury heard the woman then punched Carr in the nose, prompting him to grab his face and say, ‘You’ve broken my nose.’

She jumped from the bed and yelled, ‘You’re a f***ing rapist.’

The accused responded,’I knew I shouldn’t have drunk,’ and said his ‘nose was f***ed’.

‘Why did I drink? Why did I do this?’ Carr said, according to Mr Fisher.

‘Shut the f*** up. You’ve just done this to me. You’re a rapist,’ the woman allegedly replied.

The jury heard Carr allegedly responded: ‘It’s not rape. I was using my fingers.’

‘That’s still rape, you can’t just do that. Also, you didn’t just use your fingers, I felt you used your d**k,’ the woman said.

Carr then told the woman to order an Uber and leave his house.

Who gave evidence about Carr 

The jury heard evidence Carr and the woman had visited the home of Mr Bissiotis and his partner Andrea Keough to watch the football the evening before the allegations occurred. 

Mr Bissiotis, who co-owns Este Wategos Byron Bay, and Ms Keough gave evidence during the trial from the Australian embassy in Athens.

The jury heard Mr Bissiotis and Carr have been friends for decades and attended the 1977 Grand Final together.

The pair are also in a reported $16million inner-city Melbourne development partnership with Martin, the triple-premiership-winning Tiger star.

Martin was nowhere to be seen during the 13-day trial and did not respond to a request for comment. 

Two other friends of Carr, a former Carlton Football Club director and a former Ralph Carr Management associate, gave character evidence of his behalf of their friend.

Ex-Blues board member and top Victorian lawyer Marcus Clarke KC told the jury he knew the accusations against his friend but said Carr was an ‘honourable character.’

‘He’s respectful of everyone, women… he’s just very decent, very honest and very decent,’ Mr Clarke said.

Carr was remanded in custody seconds after he was found guilty of rape and sexual assault

Mr Clarke said he joined the Carlton board in 2007 and that’s when he met Carr – who was also a Carlton director – and the pair have remained friends ever since.

‘I’d say he used to fight hard for his clients,’ he told the jury.

‘Once he did a deal though he would stick with it, so he’s very honest and abided by any agreement he entered into.

‘He’s just an honourable character, never even raised his temper.’

Entertainment industry consultant Adrian Marchesani, who first worked for Carr in 1998, said the majority of staff were women during his 22 years at Ralph Carr Management.

Mr Marchesani told the court he never witnessed Carr act inappropriately to any female staff or females in general.

‘He’s a very committed person to work. I don’t think he has many interests outside of work. He likes football, but he managed to turn that into work,’ Mr Marchesani said.

‘He, as I say, he doesn’t have, really, any outside interests, and is very dedicated to the artists because obviously, a manager makes a commission off an artist. So it’s in his best interest to get the best result for the artist.

Arena has previously described her marriage to Carr as ‘disgraceful’ and said she ‘went back to zero’ financially

‘I think he acts respectfully towards pretty much everyone. I mean, it’s a business where you know, you have to be on everyone’s side to proceed. 

‘So he will be, I guess, direct in his dealings with other record companies and people, on behalf of his artists.’

An associate of Carr, Georgia Grant – who said she fell out with the woman in November 2021 – also gave evidence for the prosecution.

Ms Grant said she stopped talking to her former friend after she came over to her house to help her pack, spending just five to ten minutes there, after learning the Carr might join them for a Melbourne Cup eve drink.

‘When she offered to help pack, I said, “Oh, thank you, that’s really nice,”‘ Ms Grant recalled. ‘She literally packed my house in about five to ten minutes, then said, “Well, now we can go and see Ralphy.”‘

‘I thought, “Hang on a second,”‘ Ms Grant explained. ‘I told her I hadn’t actually decided if I wanted to go. I was just talking about my options for the afternoon.’

The court heard the two women then went to a Richmond pub for a beer.

Martin was one of Carr’s most high-profile clients and friends

Former Carlton board member Marcus Clarke KC gave character evidence on behalf of Carr

Ms Grant said she thought her former friend wanted to get close with Carr so she could get to know his AFL connections.

‘I thought it was ridiculous,’ Ms Grant said.

Ms Grant, who had only consumed one drink, said she and the woman then went to the Corner Hotel for dinner before ‘agreeing to disagree’ on the plan to meet Carr.

‘I was about half a beer deep,’ Ms Grant said before ‘things kicked off’ at the Corner Hotel.

‘We were having quite a nice time, I was eating my parma and we were just chatting and something, sort of, this weird switch sort of happened and she was like, “Alright, now that we’re eating dinner, after this let’s go meet Ralphy.”

‘I said, “No, that’s not what we discussed,”… and then she got really upset with that and said, “How can you do this to me? Please, please, let me go.”

‘I started to cry. “Why aren’t you listening to me, I made it really clear you’re making me very anxious and uncomfortable”.

‘She couldn’t stand that. She threw the knife and fork on the table, yelled at me and stormed out.’

Carr helped launch the career of Vanessa Amorosi

Ms Grant said the woman sent many messages to her after the incident but she blocked her and they had no contact since the Corner Hotel blow-up.

Another message the woman sent read: ‘Do you want to be mates or not? I tried, now I’m mad because you called and I didn’t answer and you blocked me, I thought you were a guy I was dating.’

This was followed by another message: ‘Anyway there’s drama, let me know if you want me to call, it’s wild.’

‘It was pretty typical for her to do strange things like that,’ Ms Grant said. ‘So I wasn’t angry. I just thought, “Oh, classic,” and moved on with my life.’

Ms Grant also said she did not trust the complainant’s intentions around the accused man and agreed that the ‘outburst’ at the Corner Hotel matched her memory.

‘Unfortunately, it was the sort of thing I’d seen from her many times, especially when alcohol was involved,’ she said.

Ms Grant agreed with a suggestion put to her in court that the woman was trying to force her way into the Carr’s life. 

She added woman had a ‘small circle of friends’, describing her as ‘a bit of a lone wolf’ who never had a large social group.

Carr and Martin were known in AFL circles as being close friends

Lead defence barrister Dermot Dann managed to get DNA evidence the prosecution wanted to present to the jury ruled inadmissible.

During a pre-trial hearing, the court heard vthe ictim took the swabs from her vagina herself in a bathroom at a police station.

But it was argued there was no certainty the victim followed the steps correctly or used the gloves provided.

‘The jury could not properly use the evidence rationally,’ Judge Gucciardo ruled during a pre-trial hearing.

Without the DNA evidence it was up to the jury to believe the victim’s account – which they did.

Mr Dann indicated the defence may make a rare legal move and apply for a stay of sentence.

He told the court after the guilty verdicts came in that a ‘gross miscarriage of justice’ occurred. 

Carr, who was remanded in custody, will face a plea hearing at a later date.