Rapist talent manager’s prison ‘hell’ in daily lockdown
William Ton |
Celebrity agent turned convicted rapist Ralph Carr was so concerned about reputational damage that, despite living in prison “hell”, he refused to go to hospital while dealing with significant health difficulties.
The 66-year-old talent manager behind the careers of AFL champion Dustin Martin, singer Kate Ceberano and pop star ex-wife Tina Arena was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault by a Victorian County Court jury.
For almost three years, Carr successfully kept his name out of the news but was unmasked earlier in August with the lifting of a suppression order.
Sporting a bald head and grey prison tracksuit, he was almost unrecognisable without his prominent black wig as he faced court on Monday.
Carr maintained his innocence and was applying for a temporary delay to his sentence pending an appeal against his convictions for rapes lasting “one second”, defence lawyer Dermot Dann told the court.
Mr Dann said his client’s unmasking had impacted his mental health, leading to suicidal thoughts, depressive symptoms and anxiety.
“For someone who maintains innocence, this is a terrible, terrible situation,” he said.
“When he describes it as a living hell and that he’s destroyed, it adds to the picture.”
Carr’s mental health history dates back to 2023 when he was arrested and charged, but Mr Dann said the “single greatest factor exacerbating risk” was public identification in the media.
The convicted rapist’s mental wellbeing was also linked to the outcome of his application as it offered him hope, Mr Dann argued.
“Because of the nature (and) scale of reporting, publicity, his career (has been) destroyed,” he said.
“No matter how successful his appeal or stay application is, he sees the damage to his career is done because his career relied on public relations, knowing people at the right time.”
Psychiatrist Jackie Rakov, who had been treating Carr, said he was being held in a section of prison for high-profile inmates and being locked down in his cell for 23 hours a day.
Dr Rakov told the court Carr’s suicide risk was “dynamic” and could increase if the stay application was unsuccessful.
Carr had suffered significantly raised blood pressure to a level above 200, which had led to him say he was dying, the psychiatrist said.
But he refused a hospital transfer due to claustrophobia and the thought of being in the back of the ambulance would reignite memories of being in the back of a police transport vehicle.
He also didn’t want the media attention, Dr Rakov said.
Mr Dann submitted his client had no prior criminal history and had suffered extra-curial punishment when his career, which he built from the ground up and was intimately connected to his identity, was destroyed.
Carr’s mental health issues would make his time in custody more burdensome.
Mr Dann argued the agent’s offending lasted “one second”.
“This must be the shortest incidents of rape that have come before the courts,” he said.
Carr was convicted of assaulting a former employee at his Melbourne home in the early hours of March 24, 2023, after she became emotional discussing a relationship break-up.
He hugged her and began kissing her and touching her breasts, waist and buttocks while she tried to push him away.
When she told him to stop, Carr told her he couldn’t because she was “so sexy” before raping her twice while she cried into a pillow.
A victim impact statement for the woman was not tendered in court.
Prosecution plea submissions will be heard on Tuesday before both sides argue over the stay application.
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AAP