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News December 5, 2022

‘Heavyweight’ Music Industry Professional Faces Historic Rape, Assault Charges: Report

Senior Journalist, B2B
‘Heavyweight’ Music Industry Professional Faces Historic Rape, Assault Charges: Report

A “high-profile” executive who entered the music industry in the 1980s is facing charges of raping and assaulting a singer.

The 61-year-old executive, who has not been identified, is accused of attacking the artist in a hotel room in rural Queensland back in April 2013, according to Brisbane’s Courier-Mail, part of News Corp.

The man is accused of twice unlawfully and indecently assaulting the singer and raping them at a hotel in Mt Isa in late April 2013.

The newspaper’s court reporter Vanda Carson notes that the accused is a “well-known music industry heavyweight,” whose career “began in the 1980s.” 

Court documents from March 24 show the man was charged with two counts of sexual assault and one of rape, before fronting the court on May 10. 

meetoo hashtag the industry observer

As part of his bail conditions, notes the report, the accused is allowed to live in Sydney but is banned from having contact with the complainant, an adult.

The man had his case mentioned in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Nov. 21 before deputy chief magistrate Anthony Gett.

He was reportedly represented in court on that date, and on previous occasions, by “top criminal silk” Craig Eberhardt KC.

The matter is adjourned until March 27, 2023 for a one-day hearing, when his lawyers will be allowed to cross-examine an unnamed witness.

The accused is not required to appear on that date if his lawyers attend court on his behalf, reads the report, which sits behind a paywall.

The scope of sexual harm, harassment, and systemic discrimination in Australia’s music industry was laid bare in the independent study, Raising their Voices, which dropped in September.

The national study captured insights and experiences from 1,600 people from across the industry, including 1,300 surveys and the stories of over 300 music industry people.

In it, its authors report “high rates” of bullying, sexism and harassment which plague the industry to this day, though the vast majority of incidents go unreported.

From the months-long study are 17 recommendations for change which, together, amount to sweeping reforms.

One of those was immediately met — a “statement of acknowledgement” from the music industry, which welcomed the findings of national Music Industry Review.

Australia’s music industry has, for so long, been stifled by defamation laws which work to silence victims of sexual violence and misconduct, notes Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement and a keynote speaker at Bigsound 2022.

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