VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Home Affairs Minister Glenn Bedingfield has said restrictions imposed on a 15-year-old boy held at a juvenile detention facility are necessary and proportionate, amid concerns over his alleged links to an international network accused of grooming children into self-harm, violence and sexual exploitation.
The boy, an Italian national, was arraigned in May. A court order prohibits publication of details about the charges and his identity.
The youth was placed in isolation at the Centre of Residential Restorative Services (CoRRS) in Mtaħleb after investigators allegedly found videos on electronic devices linking him to the 764 network.
Authorities fear he could pose a risk to other minors at the facility if the suspected links are confirmed.
His Italian parents have publicly criticised his treatment, saying he spent up to 22 hours a day alone in his cell during his first 35 days in detention. They also complained of broken air conditioning and periods when he was allegedly required to eat standing up without cutlery.
A habeas corpus application seeking his release from isolation was rejected in June on a technicality, without the court ruling on the substance of the complaints.
The Home Affairs Ministry has said the restrictions are intended to protect the boy and others and that his routine has gradually been expanded. Measures now include access to a common room, television, a gym bicycle and a weekly supervised group session with other detainees.
The Europol report, published last November, describes 764 as a decentralised online network involved in child exploitation, cyber extortion and terrorism-linked activity.
It says members groom vulnerable young people into producing explicit material and recordings of self-harm, which can then be used for blackmail and further abuse.
The report also details allegations of sexual violence, animal abuse, forced drug use and other forms of exploitation, and says the network targets vulnerable youths, including LGBTIQ+ people, minorities and those experiencing mental health difficulties.
Europol warned that 764 is difficult to dismantle because of its decentralised structure and activity across multiple online platforms.
The network has also been reported to have ideological links to the Order of Nine Angels, a neo-Nazi occult group that promotes violence and the collapse of modern society.
– Photo Net News –
(ITALPRESS).
