Adelaide teenager Carly Ryan’s brutal murder inspires law change across the United States

A lot has changed in the 15 years since Carly Ryan was murdered by a pedophile she met online. But her legacy lives on with the US readying to introduce its version of Carly’s Law.

An Adelaide teenager is inspiring law change across the United States, more than 15 years after she was brutally murdered in her home state.

Aged 15 in 2007, Carly Ryan died after being lured to a meeting by a vile, 50-year-old pedophile who pretended on the internet to be 20.

In the wake of the tragedy, her heartbroken mum and cybersafety trailblazer Sonya Ryan campaigned tirelessly for stronger laws to protect young people online.

Carly’s Law was passed a decade after the schoolgirl died and enshrined in legislation in Australia the following year, making it a crime to plan to harm a child under 16. It is particularly targeted at predators who misrepresent their age.

Similar legislation, also referred to as Carly’s Law, has now been drafted in the US with several major states, including Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Washington State, Indiana, North Carolina, moving closer to enacting it.

Adelaide schoolgirl Carly Ryan was just 15 when she was murdered by a pedophile she had met online, who had posed as a teenage boy.

Sonya Ryan emerged as a cybersafety trailblazer in the wake of her daughter’s murder. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Ms Ryan, CEO of Adelaide-based online safety program provider the Carly Ryan Foundation which now also has an offshoot in the US, said she had long been driven to fight for change beyond Australia.

She has worked internationally as an adviser for online safety with strong interest previously from Texas police in the US as well as New Zealand.

“When Carly’s Law passed in Australia, the United Nations contacted me and wanted to help support me to get Carly’s Law into the criminal codes of as many countries as possible,” the 2013 South Australian of the Year said.

“For me, children everywhere are important … this crime type is borderless.

Carly’s mum Sonya Ryan continues to fight to protect young people around the globe from online predators, saying ‘this crime type is borderless’. Picture: Matt Turner

“There are children all over the world suffering … in the US alone there have been over 30 million reports of online child exploitation in one year.

“I have always felt that Carly’s legacy needs to go beyond Australian shores, that it needs to potentially impact the lives of millions of children … that remains my hope.”

Sonya Ryan is fighting to protect children around the globe from online predators, more than 15 years after losing her own daughter. Picture: Supplied

Ms Ryan, with support of the Australian Embassy in Washington DC and federal attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, has met with governors and lawmakers across the US.

“We are really moving forward towards getting Carly’s Law introduced in several states,” she said.

“We now have it in draft form and are working on the wording … the fact that it is now in draft is a huge step forward … we are very close to getting Carly’s Law enacted here.”

Ms Ryan said work was also happening at the federal level in the US.

“I have worked so hard to change the online safety landscape in Australia and wanted to bring all the things I have worked so hard for, here to the US,” she said.

“Carly’s legacy is living on here, too.”

Originally published as Adelaide teenager Carly Ryan’s brutal murder inspires law change across the United States