Some of this seems like the government may have manufactured this whole thing, and pushed him into committing a crime he otherwise wouldn't have--that's the danger of "sting" operations. Keep in mind all this transpired over the Internet, and it's not like the conversation between the kid and the agents would be a short, blunt, "Hi, we're terrorists, what can you tell us about the Americans?" and the kid responding, "Oh sure, they have X, Y, and Z which can do A, B, and C," etc.
It's important to remember that these federal agents are trained in using psychological manipulation--they could have gradually turned the conversation in ways that made the topics seem like idle conversation, nothing criminal that would tip the kid off that he shouldn't discuss certain things online.
However in this instance, I don't mind even if it is.
My reasoning is that if he was susceptible to manipulation by US Government agents, he would obviously be vulnerable to manipulation by Islamoterrorists. Better we find out this way.
Besides, I'm not one who believes that a person can be "manipulated" to do something they wouldn't do anyway. They just use the "manipulators" arguments to convince themselves to do it.
He was traitor scum at heart, not an "All American Boy".