Carly Ryan (January 31, 1992 – February 20, 2007) was a 15-year-old girl from Stirling, South Australia who was murdered by Garry Francis Newman, a man she met online and who posed as an 18-year-old boy named Brandon Kane.
Background[]
In 2006, Carly befriended “Brandon Kane”, an 18-year-old musician from Melbourne, over MySpace and the two began dating. They communicated online and over the phone.
Case[]
In January 2007, Garry Newman, Kane’s true identity, traveled from Melbourne to Stirling, South Australia, where Carly lived. He claimed that he was Brandon’s father Shane and gave Carly lingerie and a nurse’s outfit as a birthday gift from Brandon. After he and Carly’s mother Sonya met, Sonya allowed “Shane” to attend Carly’s birthday party and spend the night. However, he began acting erratically and possessive and made inappropriate physical advances toward Carly. After finding Shane in Carly’s bed, Sonya made him leave and then limited Carly’s Internet access.
On February 19, Carly went to spend the night with friends, but didn’t return home. Sonya told the police, and Carly’s body was found floating facedown at Horseshoe Bay in Port Elliott. She could not be revived and the investigation revealed that she’d received several injuries and had died from a combination of facial trauma, smothering in the beach sand and drowning. Security footage showed Carly in and around Port Elliott the day she disappeared in the company of two men, and police tracked them to Mornington, where Newman was, on March 2.
At the time Newman was talking to another Australian 14-year-old girl online. He was arrested for Carly’s murder and his son, who witnessed the murder, was detained. On January 21, 2010, Newman was sentenced to life in prison with a 29-year non-parole period. His son was cleared of all charges and has never been publicly identified.
Sonya Ryan founded the Carly Ryan Foundation in order to promote Internet safety. It has fought for legislation to protect young Australians online. Carly’s story has been profiled on the TV show Deadly Dates and there is a Wikipedia article about it.
News[]
For news articles on Carly Ryan, see here.
Photos of Carly[]
Popular media[]
TV shows[]
- Carly Ryan • Deadly Dates (2018)
Podcasts[]
- Carly Ryan • Crimelines True Crime (2019)