Mother of murdered teen Carly Ryan hopes new app Thread will help protect young people

CARLY Ryan thought she was speaking online with her dream boyfriend. In fact he was a balding, overweight deviant with “murder on his mind”. Now, her mum is fighting back.

26/10/2009: SA murder victim Carly Ryan as student in year 9 school photograph provided to police by Carly's mother who has requested that for any future media regarding the death of her daughter, that the attached photo be used and not the previous 'gothic' style photograph. This is a request on behalf of Carly's mum and it is understood that it is at the discretion of the media to cease using the previous photo and use the attached photo 07 Sep 2007.

CARLY Ryan thought she was speaking online with her dream boyfriend, an 18-year-old “emo” guitarist called Brandon Kane.

Their romance went for 18 months, in messages and phone calls, before he convinced her to finally meet him — and it was only then she discovered the horrifying truth.

“Brandon Kane” was in fact Gary Francis Newman, a “overweight, balding, middle-aged paedophile with sex and murder on his mind”.

Francis had groomed 15-year-old Carly but when she rejected him he lured her to a beach near Adelaide and bashed her, suffocating her by pushing her face into the sand. He then threw her into the water to drown.

Her body was found the next day, on February 20, 2007. When police went to arrest Newman 11 days later they found him once again on the internet logged in as “Brandon” and chatting with a 14-year-old girl from Western Australia.

Newman was convicted of murder and given a 29-year non-parole period, for a crime the sentencing judge Justice Trish Kelly said was a “terribly cruel thing you did to this beautiful, impressionable child”.

Sonya Ryan has launched a new app she hopes will help keep young people safe.

Carly Ryan thought she was speaking to a teenage boy online.

“I say ‘child’ because that’s what she was — a child who fell in love with the idea of the handsome, musically-inclined and rather exotic Brandon Kane,” the judge said.

“The real man was an overweight, balding, middle-aged paedophile with sex and murder on his mind.”

Since her daughter’s death, Carly’s mother, Sonya Ryan, has dedicated her life to educating young people and parents of the dangers of cyber crime.

Today she launched a new personal safety app, called Thread, which aims to help children and teenagers stay connected and deal better with unsafe situations online.

She said Carly was the first Australian girl to be murdered by an online predator. She hoped Thread would help make sure there were no more victims.

“The reality is that not everyone has the right intentions, with this app we can potentially prevent crimes from happening. If Carly had this technology, the outcome may have been different for her,” Ms Ryan said.

Thread allows users to check in with their location to show they’re OK, offers a secure environment to speak with contacts and send their location while they’re dialling 000.

“If a teenager is at a friend’s house or a party and feels unsure of their safety, they can discreetly send their location to their emergency contacts. Thread provides an immediate connection between that child’s location, trusted contacts and emergency services.”

Parents and children can set times to check-in at an agreed location or event.

If a user does not check in, the app can send an alert with the child’s GPS location.

Garry Francis Newman is serving a life sentence for the murder of Carly Ryan.

Thread was designed by digital specialists KOJO in partnership with the Carly Ryan Foundation which was set up by Ms Ryan to spread awareness about the danger that lurks online.

After he was sentenced Ms Ryan said she would “never forgive the monster”.

“I hope that he suffers, that he rots from the inside out, that he sees Carly’s face every morning and is haunted for the rest of his miserable life,” she said.

She said he had no right to harm her daughter.

“He had no right to take Carly’s life, and it hurts that he still has the luxury of breathing in and out.”

The last time she saw her daughter Carly hugged her four times and called out “love you” as she walked away from home.

The day her body was found, she got a phone call from a member of the public telling her he had found her daughter’s purse. Fearing the worst, she rang the missing persons unit immediately.

Newman’s Supreme Court trial heard when he tried to seduce her in person, pretending to be Brandon’s father “Shane”, she rejected him.

It was that rejection that sent him into a murderous rage.

Justice Kelly said there was no doubt he intended to kill Carly.

“When your deception came unravelled you killed Miss Ryan,” she said.

“You were sexually obsessed with Miss Ryan to the degree that, when you could not get your own way, you prepared to, and did, kill her.

“You set up an environment where you could have access to Miss Ryan in a lonely and deserted place. It is the only explanation for what happened.”

The Thread app available at here. It is also available on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Originally published as Mother of murdered teen Carly Ryan hopes new app Thread will help protect young people