He watched hundreds of jihadist videos: what awaits the 12-year-old convicted of advocating terrorism

He had recorded more than 1,700 videos of propaganda or massacres of a jihadist nature (illustration). Unsplash – Thomas Park

Since December 2023, the boy, “with significant vulnerabilities”, had downloaded more than 1,700 videos of propaganda or massacres of a jihadist nature.

A 12-year-old child, who had watched hundreds of jihadist videos and distributed some of them, was found guilty on Wednesday in Montbéliard (Doubs) of condoning acts of terrorism.

Since December 2023, the boy, “60~em>” with significant vulnerabilities “, had recorded more than 1,700 videos of propaganda or massacres of a jihadist nature, recalled the public prosecutor of Montbéliard, Paul-Edouard Lallois, during a press conference. He also shared them through several encrypted messaging services.

During a closed hearing of nearly four hours before the juvenile judge, the child admitted to being interested in Islam, then to having fallen into chat channels such as Discord and Telegram. “He was able to participate in discussions relating to radical Islamism and explained to us several times that he had been recruited”, said the prosecutor, who had announced in early July that proceedings were being opened against the child.

Given his young age, the boy, who lives in Sochaux (Doubs), could not since then be placed under judicial supervision. He is therefore subject to provisional educational judicial measures before the criminal sanction is pronounced. This will happen in seven months, the prosecutor specified.

For the moment, the boy, separated from his family, is placed in a collective structure under the judicial protection of youth, where he benefits from care and educational measures.

His parents, exonerated, are separated. The minor lived with his mother with the rest of the siblings. A discreet child, withdrawn into himself, he had not been talked about in his school or outside "whether as a cause or victim", detailed the magistrate.

It is evolving "favorably"

Questioned at length by the judge, in a hearing "very serene but heavy with emotion", interrupted on multiple occasions At his request, the young man admitted without difficulty that what he had done was "wrong", according to Mr. Lallois.

The defense wanted him to be acquitted on the grounds that the boy did not show discernment, but the forensic examination revealed “a fairly clear awareness in the boy of the reprehensible nature of what he was accused of”, he emphasized.

For the prosecutor, the offenses were “constituted” because the pre-adolescent put “in a favorable light acts of terrorism and could incite the commission of such acts”.

The prosecutor nevertheless noted an alteration of discernment, while emphasizing psychological vulnerabilities which were “a favorable breeding ground for becoming involved in a phenomenon of radicalization”. He had developmental disorders, marked by a language delay. “He reported difficulties adapting to secondary school and his negative experience of loneliness.”

The minor, aged under 13, is not liable to a prison sentence. He is liable to “educational measures” ranging from outpatient care to placement in a collective institution, where he is already. His conviction will result in a traceability on his criminal record, a note that will remain after he turns 18.

The placement measure, put in place since the end of July, "is going well", the magistrate explained. "The child is now developing favorably, far from solitude, with the notion of community life and with progressive care."

When the opening of the investigation was announced, the magistrate said he was "stunned" by some of the content viewed by the young boy. “What is probably most notable is the extreme youth of this child”, he continued. “I had in front of me a child who cried a lot.”

Mr. Lallois had nevertheless reported an interest in “explosives, weapons in general”.