Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has defended the Australian Federal Police (AFP) over allegations it “enticed” an autistic 13-year-old boy into radical extremism by encouraging his “fixation” with Islamic State.
Speaking on ABC Radio National on Feb. 20, the minister said: “I am 100 percent supportive of the AFP, [they are] incredible people that work … everyday to protect our community. What I would say is that this case does reflect what is a broader and really concerning issue, which is the increasing prevalence of young people in our caseload … in regard to violent extremism.
“We are seeing people who are ... 12, 13, 14, 15 years old, largely radicalising themselves online, getting into networks that [are] leading them into violence, and we are taking a really close look at the moment, as a government, about how we can prevent these instances ending up in the hands of police. Because once it gets to that point, we have reached a really problematic stage.”
The senior AFP officer who authorised the undercover operation told a Senate Estimates hearing last week that he would do so again under the same circumstances.
Magistrate Finds Police Acted Inappropriately
However, a Victorian magistrate, and many politicians, feel the AFP went well outside the bounds of acceptable behaviour, especially given the boy’s age, his disability, and the fact he had an IQ of 71.His parents approached Victoria Police in April 2021 after the boy—given the pseudonym “Thomas Carrick” in court—was watching Islamic State-related videos on his computer, and asked his mother to buy bomb-making ingredients such as sulphur and acetone.
He was investigated and eventually charged with two terror offences by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT), which comprises the AFP, Victoria Police, and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation members. Mr. Carrick spent three months in custody before he was granted bail in October 2022.
However, a Victorian Children’s Court magistrate found an undercover officer had “fed his fixation,” and thus “doomed” rehabilitation efforts.
“The conduct engaged in by the JCTT and the AFP falls so profoundly short of the minimum standards expected of law enforcement offices [sic] that to refuse this [stay] application would be to condone and encourage further instances of such conduct.”
The magistrate also said a police search of the boy’s room, under the guise of attending to provide support to the family within the CVE (Countering Violent Extremism) framework, was “deliberate, invasive, and totally inappropriate.”Greens Senator Takes Issues With AFP
Greens Senator David Shoebridge claimed in Parliament that “it was the AFP who recommended he become a sniper and a suicide bomber” and called the AFP’s actions an “obscene abuse of power and authority.”Speaking later to the media, he said “I was deeply troubled by a complete lack of remorse ... and the second most senior person in the AFP seeking to justify doing a covert operation against a 13-year-old boy with autism, whose parents had come to the police seeking help and wanted to direct him on a pathway away from extremism.
“And also I think we should put this in context. They charged this boy with a series of charges and the AFP only charged less than 400 people a year ... [and] they only go after high-value targets ... how could you identify a 13-year-old boy with autism whose parents were looking for help as a high-value target?”
