Teen facing charges over Facebook party

CHATSWOOD, Australia, March 16 (UPI) -- Police in Australia said a 17-year-old boy faces charges for hijacking a Facebook party invitation for a high school girl's birthday celebration.

Investigators allege the teenager took over the site, which advertised the 15-year-old Chatswood girl's birthday party, resulting in 214,000 people accepting the invitation to the "small house birthday party," The Sydney Daily Telegraph reported Wednesday.

The girl, identified by the first name Jess, was forced to cancel the party, and a Web site has taken advantage of the incident by selling T-shirts bearing the girl's name and the planned date of the event.

Police said they are investigating whether infamous online prank group Anonymous was involved after several party respondents were seen using the group's logo for their Facebook pictures.

Officers said the 17-year-old boy believed to be behind the scheme is facing criminal charges, but the charges were not specified.