In this episode, we talk to Sonya Ryan, founder of the Carly Ryan Foundation. In 2007, Sonya’s 15-year-old daughter Carly was killed at the hands of a child sex offender, 47-year-old Garry Newman, who she met online, despite her best efforts to keep the teen safe on the internet.

Through Carly’s story, the podcast gives insight into those who misrepresent their age to engage with and exploit young people on the internet.

Sonya outlines the work of the Carly Ryan Foundation to keep young people safe from online groomers and prevent them engaging in sexting and image based abuse — which are in fact child exploitation material offences.

Sonya also talks about Carly’s Law, which makes it a crime to plan to harm a child under 16 (especially those who misrepresent their age online) punishable by a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. She also speaks about how the vulnerability of a child should be taken into account during the sentencing process.

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