Geelong sports stars who have fronted court

A former professional basketballer appeared in Geelong court recently, and he’s not the only sporting star to find themselves on the wrong side of the law. SEE THE LIST.

Staff Writers

5 min read

September 2, 2024 - 6:00AM

Geelong Advertiser

Geelong sporting stars who have appeared before court.

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Sport is a bright point in so many lives, but it’s not immune to the darker side of reality.

Gun footballers, a Paralympic flag-bearer and a basketball star are among those who have appeared before Geelong courts.

Their crimes include driving offences and breaching court orders, to serious sexual crimes and violent assaults.

Here are some of those cases from recent years.

Brett Rainbow

A former professional basketballer and NBL slam dunk star, Brett Rainbow fronted court last month after being nabbed driving while disqualified, speeding and failing to comply with an alcohol interlock.

Rainbow, of Armstrong Creek, represented himself in court when he pleaded guilty to the charges.

The court heard on April 28 this year, police spotted Rainbow driving at 68km/h in a 50km/h zone in Mount Duneed.

It was soon revealed he held a learner permit, which had expired in November 2021.

Rainbow told the court he had received an urgent call from his heavily pregnant wife, who was on her way to hospital.

Rainbow played for the Melbourne Tigers in the National Basketball League (NBL) in the 1990s and was the three-time NBL all star slam dunk champion.

Magistrate Urfa Masood said she understood Rainbow was in a rush to see his wife in the circumstances, but needed to have a plan in place.

“You would have been panicked … but these rules exist for a reason,” she said.

Rainbow was fined $800 without conviction and placed on an adjourned undertaking.

Frank (not his real name)

A local Geelong footballer escaped without conviction after texting and calling a woman hundreds of times despite being ordered by a court not to.

Frank, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fronted court in June where he pleaded guilty to four counts of persistently contravening a family violence intervention order (FVIO).

The court heard Frank called a woman 1411 times and texted her 647 times in a four-month period after being served with a FVIO, which prohibited him from contacting the complainant.

The man’s lawyer told the court her client acknowledged the charges were “very serious” and said his conduct was “incredibly misguided”.

However, the court heard that the relationship between the two was more positive than the charges would suggest.

Frank was fined $800 without conviction.

Jordan Jones

A former AFL footballer with the West Coast Eagles, and later coach of Ocean Grove, Jordan Jones was convicted in July last year of recording two female family members in the nude.

Jones pleaded guilty in the Geelong Magistrates court to three counts of using an optical surveillance device – in this case his laptop – to film his mother-in-law and sister-in-law as they used a solarium.

In their victim impact statements, the women described questioning relationships following the incident, with his mother-in-law saying she felt “humiliated and betrayed”.

The incidents occurred in June and June 2022, and came to light when Jones’ sister-in-law realised she was being recorded.

Jones was convicted and fined $8000 by magistrate Ann McGarvie, who told the court the offending was “creepy” and a “serious breach of trust”.

A Geelong Falcons product, Jones was taken by the Eagles with pick 52 in the 2008 AFL National Draft and played two games for the club in 2010, before eventually being delisted at the end of 2011.

Cameron Rahles-Rahbula

A Paralympian alpine skier and former Young Victorian of the Year, Cameron Rahles-Rahbula avoided a conviction after secretly filming a teenage girl at Geelong Grammar in 2021.

He was instead fined $5000 and placed on an adjourned undertaking for two years after being found guilty of attempting to produce child abuse material and recording a private activity without express consent.

The father-of-two was working as an physiotherapist at the Corio campus of the exclusive school when he used his mobile phone to record a female student topless.

The court was told Rahles-Rahbula propped his mobile phone up against a tissue box.

His defence argued the camera was accidentally activated, and that it had been placed where it was because it was the best way to get reception.

In his evidence, Rahles-Rahbula said he would not have intentionally recorded the student.

“It will mark my reputation for the rest of my life,” he said.

Rahles-Rahbula won two bronze medals at the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver, capping off a glittering career which included gold medals at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in 2004 and 2009, and gold at the New Zealand Winter Games in 2011.

Christopher Moreland

Former Geelong West football club captain Christopher Moreland brutally assaulted a nightclub security guard along with his bikie gang mate in 2022.

Moreland was placed on an 18-month community corrections order in April last year after pleading guilty to the savage attack which occurred after Moreland and Andrew Jones, a member of the Nomads motorcycle gang, were booted from two nightclubs in Geelong’s CBD.

A court heard pair was booted from one club, Jones became aggressive with the security guards and yelled, “do you know who the f--- we are?”.

Moreland punched the guard in the head twice during the first assault.

A month later, the pair lined up for St James Nightclub, where another assault occurred.

Magistrate Simon Guthrie told Moreland he was a “violent man” and asked if he could be rehabilitated.

Jones received a CCO in November 2022 over the incidents.

Adam Leamer

Geelong West Giants 100-gamer Adam Leamer was convicted in April of unlawful assault and intentionally damaging property.

The court heard Leamer, of St Albans Park, showed up at his ex-partner’s home on Christmas Eve in 2023, told her he loved her, then pulled her from the couch and put his hands around her neck.

He was sentenced to a community corrections order after pleading guilty.

Magistrate Urfa Masood said it was a serious incident of family violence and that “allegations of strangulation of any form are extremely serious”.

Leamer’s lawyer, Ryan Robertson, said there was no medical or photographic evidence that corroborated the victim’s claim she had been grabbed around the neck, but nonetheless, Leamer pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for his behaviour.

Christopher Alan Collins

Former VFL footballer Christopher Alan Collins fleeced more than $100,000 from women he met using dating apps Tinder and Bumble in order to feed a gambling addiction.

Collins pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court to 14 charges, including obtaining property by deception and multiple accounts of both theft and obtaining financial advantage by deception.

He was sentenced in September 2022, but in November that year had his non-parole period reduced.

Collins held one woman’s phone to her face to unlock it while she was asleep, before stealing $13,000.

He stole $72,000 from another woman while she was on the dancefloor at a club, and $8500 from another victim while she went to the bathroom.

A talented sportsman, Collins played football for Anakie and cricket for Little River.