BREMEN - While outraged victims of the Sasser worm were preparing damages against a computer-obsessed German teenager, authorities remanded in custody a second German, 21, who devised an even more dangerous virus dubbed Phatbot.
A senior public prosecutor said Sven J. may escape formal punishment because he was arrested on Friday, only a day after his 18th birthday. Since the alleged crime of computer sabotage was apparently committed before Thursday, J. must be tried as a juvenile.
Helmut Trentmann said, "Although retribution plays a role, German young persons' courts are mainly concerned with correction." That means the punishment does not have to fit the crime, and even short terms of detention can be commuted if the youth shows remorse.
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