The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have charged a 16-year-old boy with terrorism-related offences after posting threats of extremist violence online.
In December, the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team (NSW JCTT) launched an investigation and searched his home in Sydney’s affluent inner west.
They reviewed several electronic devices and seized a gel blaster and flick knife.
A gel blaster is a toy gun designed to shoot small, superabsorbent polymer water beads, 7 to 8 mm in diameter, similar to airsoft or paintball.
The 16-year-old was initially charged with one count of possessing an unauthorised pistol and one of possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit. Each offence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
However, a subsequent review of his electronic devices identified information relating to extremist violence. Police allege he held a “mixed ideology” and had outlined plans for acts of violence.
As a result, the NSW JCTT laid additional charges of collecting documents likely to enable a terrorist act and two counts of making documents likely to facilitate a terrorist act. The maximum penalty for both these offences is 15 years’ imprisonment.
He was also charged with possessing violent extremist material, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment.
He appeared in the NSW Children’s Court on March 25.
Meanwhile, in Victoria, that state’s JCTT has charged a 17-year-old with one count of collecting or making documents that promote a terrorist act and with importing a prohibited item.
The documents were manuals, guides and material promoting ISIS-inspired terrorism, and the charge of possessing them carries a maximum 15-year sentence.
Police also seized a mobile phone and a laptop, which will undergo further forensic examination.
The boy also appeared today in the Victorian Children’s Court, where he was remanded to reappear at a later date.
Police say there is currently no identified threat to community safety.
According to the Global Network on Extremism and Technology, 42 percent of young people (under 19) who had been identified as having radical extremist beliefs also had mental health issues, and notes that an Australian survey of over 1,300 young males found that 25 percent viewed “manosphere” influencers, like Andrew Tate.
“ASIO reports the median age of investigation as 15 years old, with the AFP reporting the youngest child involved in their counter-terrorism investigations as merely 12 years old.”
Police ask that anyone with information about extremist activity or potential threats to the community come forward, no matter how small or insignificant they may think it is.
