Dwayne Donald Schmidt from Grafton pleads guilty to child rape at Port Macquarie court

It has been a spectacular fall from grace for a former high-profile Mid-North Coast horse trainer, who currently remains behind bars waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty to child rape charges.

Trainer Dwayne Schmidt with horse Born To Run Easy.

It has been a spectacular fall from grace for former high-profile horse trainer Dwayne Donald Schmidt, who currently remains behind bars waiting to be sentenced after pleading guilty to several child rape charges.

In an unusual twist, Schmidt instructed his lawyer to not continue his bail and voluntarily entered himself into custody at Port Macquarie Local Court earlier this month.

Late last week he entered pleas in relation to several charges.

Schmidt has pleaded guilty to two charges of having sexual intercourse with a girl aged between 10 and 16.

A sentencing assessment report has been ordered and these charges will come back before Port Macquarie District Court for sentencing on September 8.

Former Grafton trainer Dwayne Schmidt with seven-year-old Time To Rock.

In relation to a charge of having sexual intercourse with a person between 14 and 16, no plea was recorded and this charge dismissed.

The 56-year-old was also charged with two counts of sexually touching another person without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty to both of those charges and the matter has been set down for a hearing at Port Macquarie Local Court on October 31. This hearing is estimated to take about four hours.

Grafton Police Station.

In January last year, Mid-North Coast Police District detectives launched an investigation after reports were made of two alleged sexual assaults against the same teen girl in 1994 and 1996 at Port Macquarie.

Schmidt was arrested by police at a Grafton address about 7am on Tuesday, November 12, last year and was taken to Grafton Police Station and charged.

He had been granted bail and was reporting to Grafton police station three times a week before entering custody.

Schmidt was stripped of his training licence late last year when the charges came to light.

At the time a Racing NSW spokesperson said Schmidt would need to move about 35 horses from his “sizeable stable” in Grafton.

Schmidt was a jockey before he became a successful trainer. He rode his first winner at Royal Randwick in 1984 and won his last race at Taree in 1995.

Schmidt told the John Tapp Racing podcast in 2022 that he quit riding when his health was suddenly threatened by wasting and the use of diuretics.