Swedish teenager jailed for attempted murder, rape and assault committed online, wi victims in Germany and Australia

A Swadish teenager kent as Chai haes been sentencit tae mair nor ten year in jail for attemptit murder, rape and aggraveatit assault – crimes committit via the internet, includin against a teenage lassie in Australia.

The district court fand that Chai, aichtien, wis active in online networks notorious for their sadistic extortion o young and vurnerable fowk, coercin them tae mak sexually explicit material or engage in acts o violence – and for the youth o thae involved.

The teenager wis atween fifteen and seventeen year auld whan the affences war committit.

Chai wis convictit o twa coonts o attemptit murder against a young person in Germany, and muckle sexual and violent affences against the Australian teenager, amang ither affences.

Jenny Ostling, a senior public prosecutor at Swaden’s national unit against international and organised crime, said the court had clearly unnerstuid the phenomenon o nihilistic violent extremism and the Com – a term for a loosely connectit online network that engages in cybercrime, extortion and violence.

I am raelly glaid that they realise hou serious this is and whit it is, she said.

She notit that the sentence wis amang the langest possible in Swaden for someone o Chai’s age. The court also fand that it wis possible for someone tae be convictit o violent affences even whan they war committit remotely via the internet.

That is a very important tool for us whan we proceed wi these kinds o cases, Ostling said.

The crimes committit by thae involved wi sadistic extortion networks, sic as one globally kent as 764, aften cross borders, wi cases in the US, the UK, Germany and Australia, and alleged victims in multiple jurisdictions.

Material is aften creatit and tradit amang participants tae build status and control, lawyers and researchers tauld the Guardian as part o its investigation intae these groups, as weill as a means o accessin closed servers and chatrooms.

These are young fowk recruitin ither young fowk, Bjorn Ihler, the foonder o the security firm Revontulet, said at the time. It is a youth phenomenon.

Chai’s conviction is one o several cases that hae resultit in significant terms o imprisonment for young men fand tae be involved in this ecosystem, includin an American, Kyle Spitze, twinty-seiven, wha wis sentencit in August tae seiventy-seiven year in prison – the langest federal sentence yet imposit on someone the US government haes labelit a nihilistic violent extremist.

During the trial, Chai unnerwent a forensic psychiatric examination that fand he wis no sufferin a serious mental disorder whan the affences occurrit.

His lawyer, Emily Tovedal, tauld the Guardian: The defence’s view is that the court haes made an error o judgement regardin a lairge proportion o the chairges.

Authorities internationally hae increasingly raisit the alarm aboot sadistic online exploitation o young fowk, detailin potential warnin signs includin self-harm and isolation.

Sadly, I am confident that they will probably grow, Ostling said o these networks. And we will also be aware o mair o them, because nou we ken whit tae luik for.