Sonya Ryan, whose daughter Carly was the first Australian girl murdered by an online predator, will visit Parliament House in Canberra next week to mark the 10-year anniversary of the brutal crime to call for more government funding to help young people stay safe online.
“There is a critical need for more support for services that promote internet safety and provide education for young Australians, to help them stay safe online,” said Mrs Ryan, who started the Not-For-Profit Carly Ryan Foundation to raise awareness and educate children, parents and schools about internet safely in the wake of her daughter’s tragic death “The Carly Ryan Foundation receives a substantial number of requests from parents who fear for their children’s safety and are desperate for help, and we want to help them all.” Mrs. Ryan added.
On February 20, 2006, Carly Ryan was brutally murdered on a South Australian beach at the age of 15 by a 50-year-old peadophile masquarading as an 18-year-old musician, who had preyed on her online. Mrs. Ryan’s tireless campaigning led to the creation of Carly’s Law, a bill which was introduced into Parliament last November and is expected to come into force this year. Carly’s Law would make it a criminal offence for adults to lie about their ages when communicating with children online.
Mrs. Ryan explained that a week’s worth of enquires to the Carly Ryan Foundation highlights the need to fund services that help children and parents learn how to use the internet safely. In the week from 6 to 14, February, the Foundation received 20+ enquiries – including police referrals, requests for information and education sessions from high schools and primary schools, and many requests for help from parents concerned about their children. The following enquiries came from Australian parents, who have not been named to protect their identity:

● “I am a desperate mother trying to get through to my foster daughter that has given her full details name, school and phone number on Instagram to multiple men/ boys she doesn’t know and whatever other social media sites she might have that we do not know about is an accident waiting to happen.”
● “I’m a mum… that has had an incidence of sexting between my 13yr old daughter and a 17yr old boy online… I’m not convinced that my daughter truly gets how serious it could have become. We completely understand that you are pulled in many different directions and know it may be impossible to meet with us but I thought I would still enquire as to the possibility.”