[engtech]

The 17 yo might not be a child, but he is immature. His actions were not the actions of a mature individual.

Knowing the 17 yo, and knowing his family means the article author was able to make a judgement call about how seriously he takes the threats against his family and himself now that the veil of anonymity is revealed.

If he was still worried about the threats being enacted after the 17 yo was reveal then I'm sure he would have involved authorities.

Actions have consequences, and while I agree that what the 17 yo did needs to have consequences, by invoking the authorities the author could change this from an act that has a definite conclusion to something that is ongoing (if only on his conscience) when he hears stories about this kid's life 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

To let go of retribution and have a dark part of your life concluded and move on is sometimes a better outcome than having to drag something out to get justice.