A three-year suppression order was lifted by the County Court of Victoria on Monday, August 3, naming veteran Australian music promoter and talent manager Ralph Carr as the businessman convicted of rape and sexual assault.

Carr, 66, also known as Ralph Carnovale-Carr, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault following a trial in which he pleaded not guilty. The Guardian. Prosecutors alleged the attack took place against a woman at his Melbourne home in March 2023, after a night during which the pair had been consuming drugs and alcohol. A jury returned guilty verdicts on all three counts.

As of August 6, Carr had not yet been sentenced. His barrister, Dermot Dann KC, said his client would appeal the verdicts and maintained his innocence, according to Billboard.

The suppression order had been granted under Section 18(1)(c) of Victoria's Open Courts Act — a provision that allows courts to restrict reporting when a party argues their personal safety is at risk. Carr's legal representatives made that argument, and the order held for three years before being lifted this week. Carr had appeared at the County Court of Victoria on July 22 in connection with the case, as reported by Nine News.

Carr's career in the Australian entertainment industry spanned decades. Through his company Ralph Carr Management, he guided the careers of two ARIA Hall of Fame-inducted singers, Kate Ceberano and Tina Arena, to whom he was married for several years in the mid-to-late 1990s. His client roster also included Vanessa Amorosi. The Guardian described him as a Melbourne businessman with ties across the entertainment industry and the AFL, Australia's top-level Australian rules football competition.

His live entertainment company, RCM Touring Pty Limited, went into liquidation in 2018, reportedly owing A$120,000 to another touring company. In 2020, Carr was questioned in a public examination at Sydney's Supreme Court over RCM Touring's financial affairs. A public examination is a court-supervised process in which a company's former officers can be compelled to answer questions about its finances.

Former Australian rules football star Dustin Martin ended his professional relationship with Carr after learning of the convictions, Billboard reported.

The case has drawn attention not only for the severity of the crimes but for the legal mechanism that kept Carr's identity out of the press for three years. Suppression orders are a feature of Victoria's court system, intended to protect fair trial rights and personal safety, but they are routinely debated in Australian media for the way they shield high-profile figures from public scrutiny. In Carr's case, the order held until a judge agreed it was no longer justified.

A sentencing date has not been publicly announced.