00:02He's so happy.
00:04Happy moments, now a distant memory.
00:07Their son, known as Thomas Carrick, has autism
00:10and borderline intellectual functioning.
00:13Worried he'd become fixated on ISIS,
00:16the parents sought help five years ago, when he was 13.
00:20Because of his autism, he could easily be exploited,
00:23so we went to the Victoria Police.
00:25He was enrolled in a de-radicalisation program,
00:29but also became the target of a covert sting.
00:32An officer posing as two extremists spoke with him online.
00:37The teen was later charged with terrorism offences,
00:40but a magistrate threw out the case,
00:43finding the operation had radicalised him.
00:46Now he's pleaded guilty to publishing violent ISIS videos
00:50on Instagram and emailing an alarming threat
00:54to the Melbourne Hebrew congregation.
00:56Sent under the name Adolf Hitler, the email said...
01:01From Friday Shabbat time there will be a shooter coming in at night
01:03and shooting every one of you f***ing venom dead.
01:06I hope to see your burnt corpse on television.
01:09While in custody the past 357 days,
01:13authorities say Carrick's fixation appeared to shift to women.
01:17Having served the maximum sentence,
01:19he was today released under the strictest supervision order
01:23the Children's Court can impose.
01:25He must attend court fortnightly,
01:28see a forensic psychologist weekly
01:30and is banned from possessing weapons
01:32and using the internet unsupervised for a year.
01:36Yes, we are upset, but at the same time
01:39we are no more determined to expose what happened to him.
01:45His parents are preparing to sue the AFP,
01:48alleging the agency discriminated against their son's age
01:51and disability during the 2021 operation.
01:54For them to engage with that child as if they are an adult
01:59or as if they are someone who has no disabilities
02:02is a dereliction of their obligations under Australian law.
02:08The AFP did not respond to the ABC's detailed questions,
02:12but the force previously told a Senate hearing
02:15it would authorise the same operation again.
02:19There was a conservative three-and-a-half-month effort
02:22by the CVE team, the Victoria Police CVE team,
02:26to de-radicalise him.
02:27The same set of circumstances, I would sign that again.
02:31The family's hoping the case will bring change.
02:34It should never happen to anyone,
02:37to any other family, to any other child.
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