PHILADELPHIA – A
U.S. teen from Pakistan is in secret custody, accused of helping
recruit terrorists for the woman known as "Jihad Jane," a person close
to the boy's family said Friday.
Charges filed last month accuse the
17-year-old of helping Colleen LaRose in her alleged efforts to incite
an Islamic holy war. Prosecutors have said LaRose was a convert to Islam
who wrote of being driven by an urge to help suffering Muslims.
The high school graduate had accepted a full
scholarship to Johns Hopkins University, according to the person. He is
instead in custody at a youth facility. He could be moved to an adult
prison -- and have his case moved to adult court -- when he turns 18
next month.
A law-enforcement source confirmed the
details to The Associated Press. Both people spoke on condition of
anonymity because they aren't authorized to speak publicly about the
sealed case. The AP is not publicizing the teen's name because he is
charged as a juvenile.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported on his arrest in Friday editions.
The teen came to the U.S. four years ago and
has lived with his strict, education-minded family in suburban
Baltimore. He is the rare juvenile to be charged or detained in federal
custody.
According to both sources, he met LaRose in a
chat room when he was about 15 and later agreed to help her raise money
and recruits for the jihadist cause.
LaRose, 48, had dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" in a YouTube video that caught the FBI's attention in 2009.
She faces a possible life term after
pleading guilty to four federal charges, including conspiracy to murder a
foreign target and lying to the FBI.
LaRose, an elder caretaker in small-town
Pennsylvania, cultivated a shadow life online and agreed to move to
Ireland and try to kill a Swedish cartoonist who had offended Muslims.
No sentencing date has been set in her case
while the investigation continues. The teen is referenced as a
co-conspirator in her case.
According to the family source, the FBI
searched his family's home and interviewed the teen several times at FBI
headquarters without a lawyer or family member present. However, the
source said the parents had authorized the interviews.
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