Alleged teenage car thieves face longer prison sentences because they bragged on social media

Two teenagers in Australia are facing two extra years in prison after bragging about stealing luxury cars on social media due to a new “post and boast” law.

One adult and two teenagers in New South Wales allegedly stole three luxury cars on April 16, 2024, including a white Ferrari, a BMW, and a Mazda.

The three were charged with several counts of theft, but the adult and 15-year-old in the group were charged with a more unique offense after posting about the crime on social media.

New South Wales passed a law in March 2024 called the performance crime offense, aka “post and boast.” It allows them to punish criminals who post about their crimes on social media with up to two years of prison time on top of their original charge.

Lawmakers argued that people who post about their crimes on social media are retraumatizing victims, and deserve a harsher punishment.

NSW’s Attorney General said in a press release: “This behavior is unacceptable and has to stop. People have a right to sleep safe in their beds in the sanctity of their homes and should not have to face being retraumatized, ridiculed, and shamed with images of the crime being made into a warped kind of ‘entertainment’.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen younger kids allegedly stealing cars, either. Back in 2022, police condemned the viral TikTok trend of stealing Kia and Hyundai cars after reports of kids as young as 10 years old doing it.