Police charge 13-year-old child with possessing extremist material

A 13-year-old child has fronted court on a terror charge.

South Australian Police officers arrested the child in Adelaide’s Southern suburbs on Thursday morning, charging him with possessing extremist material following an investigation.

The boy, aged 13 years and 11 months, appeared at Adelaide Youth Court via videolink on Thursday afternoon before Magistrate Tracee Micallef, where the court heard the police were still reviewing the seized material and would need about two weeks to determine the full extent of the alleged offending.

The nature of the material is unclear and the court heard the boy had not pursued planning material or weapons since the alleged offending.

The alleged offence is a summary offence, which is considered a less serious form of offending.

The state opposed bail for the boy, arguing he might be susceptible to influence in the community.

“He is obviously a very vulnerable young man,” the prosecutor told the court.

The court heard the boy had no prior history of offending.

Ms Micallef granted the boy bail, but expressed concerns about the “home environment”, saying the boy’s family may not be treating the issue with sufficient seriousness.

The boy’s defence lawyer said her client’s time in the adult jail cells at Christies Beach across the afternoon had been a “wake up call” for the family and she argued supervised bail with conditions would allow her client to get the support he needs.

The prosecutor asked for restrictions on the boy’s use of electronic devices, and Ms Micallef ordered the boy must notify Youth Justice officers of all electronic devices and passwords within 48 hours.

The boy’s mother dialled into the hearing and thanked the Magistrate for allowing her son to return home.

The boy will return to court on July 11 for a Youth Justice assessment.

The arrest follows other disturbing instances of Australian youngsters fronting courts on alleged extremism charges.

Professor Michele Grossman AM, testifying before a June Senate hearing into extremism, warned social media and the internet were pushing more young Australians, including children, into anti-democratic zealotry.

“Their exposure levels have skyrocketed,” she said, warning easy access to radical images, chatrooms and websites left them more vulnerable to persuasion.