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Virginia 17-year-old arrested for allegedly helping Islamic State

By Danielle Haynes

WOODBRIDGE, Va., March 4 (UPI) -- Federal law enforcement arrested a 17-year-old Virginia teen on suspicion he helped send a recruit to fight with the Islamic State in Syria.

The Osbourn Park High School student, whose name wasn't reported, was arrested last week at his home in Woodbridge, a suburb of Washington, D.C., law enforcement officials told The Washington Post.

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He was charged as a juvenile, but prosecutors are seeking to have him charged as an adult.

The teen was accused of helping send a slightly older man to Syria where it is believed the man joined IS. The younger man also allegedly forwarded IS messages to several contacts using the Internet.

Law enforcement had been watching the teen for a month before the FBI raided his home Friday and arrested him.

"Social media has really been a game-changer," Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told the Post. "If you are drawn to or you are inspired by these things as you watch them in your mama's basement, you can talk to somebody."

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