15 YEARS ON: CARLY RYAN AUSTRALIA'S FIRST INTERNET VICTIM

THE ADELAIDE TEEN SHOULD BE CELEBRATING HER 30TH BIRTHDAY, BUT HER LIFE WAS TAKEN BY A MONSTER

- April Glover

Long before the public was aware of the dark and sinister dangers of the internet, 14-year-old Carly Ryan logged on to her home computer.

It was 2006 and Adelaide schoolgirl Carly believed she’d met her ‘dream’ boyfriend, Brandon Kane, a 18-year-old musician from Melbourne.

Carly spent more than a year chatting with Brandon online every single day, slowly falling for someone behind a computer screen. But she had no idea that her beloved Brandon was entirely fictional.

Lurking behind the veil of internet anonymity was Garry Francis Newman, a 50-year-old divorced father of three who lived with his mother.

Over 18 months, Newman groomed young Carly, leading her to believe she was falling in love with a handsome young man named Brandon.

The monster took Carly’s life in February 2007, after luring her to a beach in Port Elliot, South Australia.

Pretending to be Brandon’s father ‘Shane’ during their first real-life meeting, Newman became angry when young Carly rejected his advances.

The internet predator bashed Carly, then 15, pushed her face into the sand and suffocated her. He then threw her into the water and left her to drown.

On March 31, 2010, Newman was sentenced to life behind bars with a 29-year non-parole period.