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Canadian teenager sentenced to 16 months in jail for online harassment, bomb threats

Canadian teenager sentenced to 16 months in jail for online harassment, bomb threats

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A Canadian teenager who pleaded guilty to 23 charges related to online harassment and "swatting" earlier this year has been sentenced to 16 months in a juvenile detention center by a provincial court. Following those 16 months, he'll spend eight months under community supervision, The Vancouver Sun reports.

The 17-year-old, whose name will not be released, harassed mostly young, female gamers and their families across the US and Canada in 2013 and 2014. Over the course of roughly one year, he hacked into several victims' social media accounts and shared their personal information online. He also called police stations claiming to have bombs at the homes of his victims — a process known as "swatting," because it often results in the unnecessary deployment of SWAT teams.

Plus 100 hours of community service

"It is clear that you have reasonably sophisticated computer skills that you could use for your own betterment," Judge Patricia Janzen said at the sentencing, according to Motherboard. "Instead, you applied those skills to inflict very serious harm on a large number of people."

The teenager's 23 charges included including nine counts of criminal harassment, eight for public mischief, four for extortion, and one for uttering threats, the Sun reports. He has been in custody since December 2014, so his sentence will extend to March 2016, according to Motherboard.

The teen must also appear in court every four months during his sentence to update a judge on his progress and serve 100 hours of community service.