A 13-year-old child is on trial on terrorism charges.
South Australian police officers arrested the boy in a southern suburb of Adelaide on Thursday morning and, following investigations, accused him of possession of extremist material.
The boy, aged 13 years and 11 months, appeared before Judge Tracee Micallef in Adelaide Youth Court via video link on Thursday afternoon. The court heard that police were still examining the seized material and would need about two weeks to establish the full extent of the alleged offending.
The nature of the material is unclear and the court heard that the boy had not searched for planning materials or weapons since the alleged offence.
The alleged criminal offence is an administrative offence which is considered a less serious form of administrative offence.
The state refused to release the boy on bail on the grounds that he might be susceptible to influence in the community.
“He is obviously a very vulnerable young man,” the prosecutor said in court.
The court heard that the boy had no previous convictions.
Ms Micallef granted the boy bail but raised concerns about the “domestic environment” and said the boy’s family may not be taking the matter seriously enough.
The boy’s defence lawyer said her client’s time in the cells at Christies Beach adult prison that afternoon had been a “wake-up call” for the family and she argued that supervised release on conditional bail would enable her client to get the support he needs.
The prosecutor requested restrictions on the boy’s use of electronic devices and Ms Micallef ordered that the boy must report all electronic devices and passwords to youth justice officials within 48 hours.
The boy’s mother intervened in the hearing and thanked the judge for allowing her son to go home.
The boy will appear in court again on July 11 for an evaluation by the juvenile court.
The arrest follows other disturbing cases of Australian youths who have faced court on alleged extremism charges.
Professor Michele Grossman AM warned at a Senate hearing on extremism in June that social media and the internet were driving more and more young Australians, including children, into anti-democratic fervour.
“Their popularity has skyrocketed,” she said, warning that easy access to radical images, chat rooms and websites makes them easier to persuade.