A Virginia teenager was arrested Friday for helping a man travel to Syria in order to join ISIS forces , according to a report . The 17-year-old was taken into custody during an FBI raid on the teen 's home in Woodbridge , neighbors said . The Washington Post reports that the boy , who is a student at Osbourn Park High School in nearby Manassas , is being charged as a juvenile , although officials are working to try him as an adult . High schooler : FBI officials arrested a 17-year-old in connection with a man who traveled to Syria and joined up with ISIS . According to officials whose names were withheld by the paper , the teenager allegedly used online contacts to help another slightly older man travel to Syria and link up with ISIS . Officials said they conducted surveillance on the home for about a month before the teenager 's arrest . The man who traveled to Syria is expected to face charges , according to officials , who also looked into another 17-year-old student at Osbourn Park , before judging him to have played a much smaller role . A neighbor said that FBI officials knocked on the front and back doors of the home before someone inside opened up . The boy was later led out in handcuffs , with the officials also carrying a computer and other electronic equipment , the neighbor said . Though she did not give her name , the neighbor said that the boy had attended middle school with her daughter and that in spite of spending most his time in the home , remarked the boy seemed like a typical teenager . Drawn to extremism : The man helped by the teenager in Woodbridge successfully reached Syria through contacts overseas to join up with ISIS ( file photo ) The boy 's alleged online ties to individuals close to the Islamist extremist group surprised some who knew him as a smart young man interested in business and technology . 'He was a brilliant kid , ' said Dustin O ’ Bryant , who hired the teenager to write for his site Coin Brief . 'His English wasn ’ t perfect , but I was willing to overlook that because the content was great . ' O'Bryant said he hired the teenager for the site , which covers BitCoin and other digital currencies , after being impressed by a chemistry paper the boy wrote . He 'had a really strong understanding of the technology behind digital currency in general and even more advanced systems , ' O'Bryant said . BuzzFeed reports that the teenager had not communicated with O'Bryant , who lives in Alabama , since February , when he told him he was going through personal issues . 'He in no way came across as any sort of extremist , ' O'Bryant said . 'My hope is that there was some kind of misunderstanding , that he didn ’ t know who he was helping . '
The boy allegedly used online contacts to help another slightly older man travel to Syria and link up with others . The teenager wrote about Bitcoin and other digital technologies for the site via email . The site 's founder said he 'd hired the teen off of a chemistry research paper he 'd written and did not believe he was in communication with extremists .