Keli Lane\u2019s secret daughter has spoken out for the first time, saying she is the \u201cforgotten victim\u201d in her mother\u2019s conviction.<\/p>\n
Ms Lane, a former elite water polo player, was convicted in 2010 after a jury found her guilty of murdering her newborn daughter Tegan in 1996.<\/p>\n
Ms Lane always maintained that she gave Tegan to the child\u2019s biological father but neither have ever been found.<\/p>\n
Born five years after baby Tegan vanished, the daughter Ms Lane kept said her mother dropped her off at school, then \u201cnever came home\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was only 9 years old,\u201d she said in a statement read out on A Current Affair.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the past 16 years, I\u2019ve grown up without my mum being part of my everyday life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Lane\u2019s daughter, who is now 25, did not reveal her identity but has spoken out now because a law in NSW is stopping her mother from being released.<\/p>\n
Ms Lane has since served her minimum sentence but in 2024 she became the first prisoner in New South Wales denied release under NSW\u2019s \u201cNo Body, No Parole\u201d laws.<\/p>\n
The law was introduced in New South Wales in 2022 after the high profile Teacher\u2019s Pet case, which saw Chris Dawson convicted over the murder of his wife, Lynette.<\/p>\n
It means it\u2019s now impossible for captive murderers to be released on parole, unless they reveal where their victims\u2019 bodies are. <\/p>\n
Ms Lane daughter said: \u201cThe no body, no parole law, was rushed through parliament to address the understandable needs of another grieving family. <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, that law has been applied to my mum\u2019s case without proper consideration of her individual circumstances, or the fact that she was only weeks away from completing her minimum sentence. <\/p>\n
\u201cThroughout all of this, very few people have considered how these decisions have affected me. I am a forgotten victim in this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cMy hope is simple: that my mum can come home and that I can spend meaningful time with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Lane\u2019s long term partner Patrick Cogan also spoke out on the show against the parole laws. He\u2019s been with his girlfriend for 17 years, for 16 of those, she\u2019s been behind bars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you think Keli did it or didn\u2019t do it, she served her time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a daughter to elderly parents who, at this point, were expecting her home a couple of years ago and Keli desperately wants to spend time with them before they pass on.<\/p>\n
\u201c[She\u2019s] a woman who\u2019s primarily a mother \u2013 a dedicated and caring mother \u2013 and has done a fantastic job with her daughter\u2026 that\u2019s the girl I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Cogan believes that Tegan, who would be 30 now, will be found one day and prove Ms Lane\u2019s innocence.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Keli] more than believes it. She\u2019s obviously hoping it happens as soon as possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Cogan claimed that over the years they have tried to find Tegan and two years ago they thought they got extremely close.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought we had found Tegan,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis person \u2013 everything ticked boxes. Right age, the look was uncanny, and we were right down to DNA situations\u2026 but it wasn\u2019t [Tegan].\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Lane\u2019s daughter simply wants her to be released so she can spend more time with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum is not a risk to anyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is loved, she is wanted by her friends and family, and I love her deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keli Lane\u2019s secret daughter has spoken out for the first time, saying she is the \u201cforgotten victim\u201d in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[77677,77649,77647,74260,77653,77681,77691,77675,77693,36911,43096,73843,77698,74144,32730,17327,37398,37114,77651,75672,77664,77684,77657,77682,49226,77648,48935,38640,37726,37136,35364,77692,22,21,77687,249,63924,77655,77670,6373,77660,77688,77673,38281,40616,61141,42221,77699,77700,77672,40538,77680,59150,77663,37355,52,77665,77650,14717,77667,77678,38364,77671,62019,77656,77685,77689,40192,355,77694,77674,77666,596,40807,77690,77696,3218,10753,3121,36991,77661,15783,1019,77669,77654,77658,37951,52148,77679,39545,77697,47672,52127,77652,77662,37489,77683,77686,77659,39272,77695,39871,61995,59831,77676,45628,56614,36894,38329,77668,31772],"class_list":["post-64131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-s-biological-father","tag-s-case","tag-s-conviction","tag-s-daughter","tag-s-innocence","tag-s-long-term-partner-patrick-cogan","tag-s-pet-case","tag-s-secret-daughter","tag-laws-the-law","tag-36911","tag-43096","tag-17-years","tag-1996-ms-lane","tag-74144","tag-32730","tag-17327","tag-37398","tag-a-couple","tag-a-current-affair","tag-a-daughter","tag-a-dedicated-and-caring-mother","tag-a-fantastic-job","tag-a-forgotten-victim","tag-a-former-elite-water-polo-player","tag-a-jury","tag-a-law","tag-a-mother","tag-a-risk","tag-a-statement","tag-a-woman","tag-age","tag-another-grieving-family","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-baby-tegan","tag-bars","tag-bodies","tag-boxes","tag-captive-murderers","tag-chris-dawson","tag-cogan","tag-dna-situations","tag-elderly-parents","tag-five-years","tag-her-daughter","tag-her-friends-and-family","tag-her-home","tag-her-identity","tag-her-individual-circumstances","tag-her-minimum-sentence","tag-her-mother","tag-her-newborn-daughter-tegan","tag-her-time","tag-his-girlfriend","tag-his-wife","tag-home","tag-keli","tag-keli-lane","tag-lane","tag-lynette-it","tag-meaningful-time","tag-more-time","tag-mr-cogan","tag-ms-lane","tag-ms-lane-daughter","tag-my-everyday-life","tag-my-hope","tag-my-mum","tag-new-south-wales","tag-no-body","tag-no-parole","tag-no-parole-law","tag-nsw","tag-one-day","tag-only-9-years","tag-only-weeks","tag-parliament","tag-parole","tag-part","tag-pictures","tag-proper-consideration","tag-release","tag-school","tag-tegan","tag-that-law","tag-the-forgotten-victim","tag-the-child","tag-the-daughter","tag-the-daughter-ms-lane","tag-the-fact","tag-the-first-prisoner","tag-the-first-time","tag-the-girl","tag-the-high-profile-teacher","tag-the-look","tag-the-murder","tag-the-no-body","tag-the-parole-laws","tag-the-past-16-years","tag-the-show","tag-the-understandable-needs","tag-the-years","tag-their-victims","tag-these-decisions","tag-this-person-everything","tag-this-point","tag-this-situation","tag-time","tag-two-years","tag-very-few-people","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}