Carly Ryan (31 January 1992 – 20 February 2007) was an Australian schoolgirl who was befriended online and then murdered by a serial

paedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...

, 50-year-old Garry Francis Newman. The case, which highlighted the emerging phenomena of

catfishing Catfishing is a deceptive activity in which a person creates a fictional persona or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim. The practice may be used for financial gain, to compromise a victim in so ...

child grooming Child grooming is befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a minor under the age of consent, and sometimes the child's family, to lower the child's inhibitions with the objective of sexual abuse. Child grooming is also regularly ...

, and online predatory behaviour, was unique at the time, given that Ryan was the first person in Australia to be killed by an online predator. In the wake of the arrest and trial of Newman, public opinion eventually led to nationwide legal changes, nicknamed "Carly's Law", being made to help protect minors online.

Background

Ryan lived in

Stirling, South Australia Stirling is a town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, approximately 15 km from the Adelaide city centre. It is administered by the Adelaide Hills Council. Neighbouring townships are Crafers and Aldgate. Other nearby towns are Heathf ...

with her mother, Sonya Ryan. Approximately 18 months before her death, while using MySpace (and

Vampirefreaks.com VampireFreaks.com is an online clothing store and former social networking site for goths and rivetheads. VampireFreaks was launched as a social networking site in 1999 and added an online clothing store in 2001. The social network element was remo ...

), she befriended "Brandon Kane", a fictitious Texas-born teen living in Melbourne, which eventually grew into an online and telephone romance. In January 2007, Garry Newman travelled from Melbourne posing as "Shane", the father of Brandon, in order to give Ryan presents (lingerie and a nurse's outfit) from the non-existent Brandon. After meeting her mother, he was then allowed to attend Ryan's 15th birthday party and stay overnight. After a shopping trip together, Newman's increasingly erratic and possessive behaviour at the party, and inappropriate physical advances (including laying onto Ryan's bed with her), he was told to leave by Sonya Ryan, who then began monitoring Ryan's Internet usage more closely.

Investigation

Later, on 19 February, Ryan left the house for an apparent sleepover with friends, but after not returning the next day, the police were notified. The same morning, at Horseshoe Bay in

Port Elliot Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of t ...

, Ryan's battered and dishevelled body was found floating face-down in the shallow water, and attempts to revive her failed. The autopsy revealed 19 separate injuries, with six to eight of them being blows to the head, and the cause of death was a combination of facial trauma, smothering, and drowning. It also revealed

cannabinoids Cannabinoids () are several structural classes of compounds found in the cannabis plant primarily and most animal organisms (although insects lack such receptors) or as synthetic compounds. The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tet ...

in Ryan's bloodstream and beach sand in her

oesophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to the ...

. Investigators examined security footage, which showed Ryan in and around Port Elliot on 19 February, in the company of two men, and she was last seen alive by witnesses at the beach at 9:30 PM. A pale blue vehicle used by the men led police to

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...

, where a raid (11 days after the murder) led to the arrest of Newman, and the detention of Newman's younger son. A search revealed that Newman had kept a notebook detailing some 200 online personas, and other criminal attempts at grooming both in Australia and internationally. At trial, Newman, who was initially not identified to the media, acted erratically and initially denied meeting the teenager. On 21 January 2010, Newman was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 29-year non-parole period.' Newman's adopted son, who was a minor at the time and a witness to the killing, was cleared of all charges and his identity remains suppressed.

Reaction

After the trial, Sonya Ryan helped to set up The Carly Ryan Foundation, a non-profit charity created to promote internet safety. In 2013, the foundation began lobbying for a legal change to improve the protection of minors online, particularly given that 25% of teenage Australians are being contacted online by people they do not know. The foundation also promoted safety awareness in Australia and New Zealand (such as the use of online contracts), and created a smartphone application, called Thread, as a personal safety app for children. Sonya Ryan also received a

South Australian of the Year Award The Australian of the Year Award is given annually on Australia Day. The national award is a major public event, televised nationwide. The Award also operates at the State level. This page lists winners of the South Australia state award, who a ...

in 2013 for services to the community, as well as various other awards in 2017, 2018 and 2021.

Legal changes

National

After a number of unsuccessful proposals by Senator Nick Xenophon's team, on 25 May 2017, a bill titled ''Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Minors Online) Bill 2017'' was submitted to the

Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...

. The purpose of the bill was:

to introduce an offence to criminalise acts done using a carriage service to prepare or plan to cause harm to, procure, or engage in sexual activity with, a person under the age of 16. This expressly includes a person misrepresenting their age online as part of a plan to cause harm to another person under 16 years of age.

It proposed changes to three federal Australian laws: ''Criminal Code Act 1995; Crimes Act 1914;'' and, ''Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979.'' The amended bill was passed at the federal level and enacted into law on 23 June 2017.

South Australia

A similar, but tighter version of the law initially failed to pass the Legislative Council in South Australia in 2013. Later, following a petition, an amended bill was introduced by Attorney-General Vickie Chapman, and was passed by the

Parliament of South Australia The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are ...

on 5 July 2018, which made it an offence for an adult (aged 18 or older) to lie to a child about their age or who they are and then attempt to meet that child. These amendments came into effect on 13 August 2018.

References

External links

Carly Ryan Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Carly 1992 births 2007 deaths Cybercrime in Australia Murder in South Australia Murdered Australian children People murdered in South Australia People from South Australia 2007 murders in Australia Incidents of violence against girls Female murder victims Deaths by person in Australia Myspace Foundations based in Australia Internet-related activism Internet in Australia Non-profit organisations based in South Australia