Swedish teenager sentenced to 10+ years for internet-facilitated violent crimes

A Swedish teenager known as Chai has been sentenced to over 10 years in prison for violent crimes orchestrated via the internet. The 18-year-old was convicted of attempted murder, rape, and aggravated assault.

The court established that the crimes, which were committed remotely, included two counts of attempted murder against a young person in Germany and multiple sexual and violent offences against a teenager in Australia. The defendant was between 15 and 17 years old at the time of the offences.

Prosecutors noted that Chai was active in sadistic online networks, such as the group known as ‘764’, which specialize in extorting vulnerable young people to create sexually explicit material or perform acts of violence. Senior public prosecutor Jenny Östling stated that the sentence is among the longest possible in Sweden for an individual of that age and emphasized the legal precedent that violent crimes can be prosecuted even when committed remotely through the internet.