The father of the Ashkelon hacker who threatened thousands of Jewish institutions around the world claimed on Army Radio Tuesday that his son acted under the influence of his psychosis.
"The story is bizarre. There is a psychiatric problem here. It is obvious that this is eccentric behavior. We know him as a sick person from the time he was born. He is autistic," said the father, adding that "I want everyone to know that we are not discussing a criminal. He is just a poor child who was somehow overlooked by all of the systems."
The State submitted an indictment Monday to the Tel Aviv District Court, charging the youth with threatening Jewish centers in the US, blackmailing a member of the American Senate and harassing a senior member of the US Defense Department.
The hacker is accused of threatening and intimidating more than 2000 institutions around the world, including airports, schools, Jewish institutions and other establishments. He is also charged with thousands of blackmail offenses, publishing of fake information causing panic and hysteria, computer offenses and money-laundering charges.
The accused performed the offenses using the internet and employed advanced technology to camouflage his voice and the source of his activity.
According to one of the charges he tried to blackmail Ernesto Lopez, an American senator from Delaware, after Lopez publicly condemned previous acts of the accused. According to the charges he is suspected of contacting the senator and demanding that he retract his statement or receive a fine in virtual Bitcoin money. After the senator did not respond to his threats, the suspect allegedly began buying drugs online and sending them in envelopes to the senator's residence in an attempt to incriminate him.
The accused also called and repeatedly harassed George Little, a former senior member of the US Defense Department. Among other things the accused threatened to abduct his children and kill them.
The prosecution has also asked to extend the remand of the accused until the end of legal proceedings.