It took just five-and-a-half weeks for a 14-year-old boy to go from a normal student to plotting a terror attack on the Sydney Opera House.
The teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was first exposed to extremist content on TikTok when he became interested in historical conquests such as the Crusades.
He was increasingly shown violent content including extremist material related to Islamic State, he previously told the NSW Supreme Court.
The teenager kept his head bowed in court on Monday as he was sentenced after pleading guilty to planning a terrorist attack over the course of more than a month in 2024.
The 16-year-old said he felt brainwashed by videos and sought validation when he reached out to people on the encrypted platform Telegram to discuss terrorism.
He sought online instructions on making a pressure cooker bomb and researched the Sydney Marathon finish line at the Sydney Opera House as a potential target, the court was told.
Similar to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, the large number of people at the end of the globally significant race made it an ideal target for inflicting maximum damage, the teen previously said.
“We will strike fear into their hearts,” he messaged on Telegram.
The teenager said he had experienced intrusive thoughts about terrorism and thought it was cool after watching extremist content online.
He was motivated by the Australian and US invasion of Afghanistan but said he was only “50/50” about actually committing the terror attack.
Justice Stephen Campbell accepted the teen was ambivalent and did not take any actual steps towards affecting a plot.
When others gave suggestions and asked how he would enact a terror attack, the Telegram chats show the teenager was hesitant to commit.
“His statements do not portray an ardent, would-be jihadist desperate for martyrdom,” Justice Campbell said.
“If anything he appears to be avoiding providing a direct answer”.
The schoolboy has a clean record and supportive parents who taught him well after immigrating to Australia.
“By all respects he appears to have been a normal young teenager,” Justice Campbell said.
He was satisfied the teenager had shown sincere remorse and renounced any extremist ideology, ruling there was very little chance of him reoffending.
The deradicalised 16-year-old said he would now choose to ignore or block extremist content online and would call out injustice rather than looking to violence.
“It goes against what I stand for, what humanity stands for, and what this country stands for," he said.
"It’s wrong in every way possible."
He was sentenced to a three-year community bond with strict conditions prohibiting him from using encrypted platforms.
"The community's interests are best protected by ensuring the young person continues on his positive trajectory towards complete deradicalisation,” Judge Campbell ruled.
The teenager nodded his head in acceptance and his family were visibly relieved.
