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Brooklyn cop faces new charges for allegedly sending explicit pics to 'teen girl'
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Apr 25, 2025
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By
Giulia Heyward
Published Apr 25, 2025
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An NYPD officer involved in a citywide youth outreach program is facing new charges in after allegedly sending a sexually explicit photo to an undercover cop posing as a 14-year-old.
Travis DeSouza, 35, had already been charged in Brooklyn last year with disseminating indecent materials to minors and attempted child endangerment. He’s now additionally facing charges in Queens, where authorities say the undercover officer was working during their online chat.
The Queens district attorney’s office said in a new announcement Friday that DeSouza unknowingly met with a cop — posing as a teen girl — online Oct. 4. When the undercover cop told DeSouza “her” supposed age, he asked for her number, according to the DA’s office.
Days later, a separate undercover cop pretending to be the 14-year-old sent DeSouza messages on Snapchat from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10, the DA’s office said.
DeSouza conversed with that undercover cop using a Snapchat feature that sets messages to vanish immediately, according to the DA’s office. On Oct. 10, DeSouza allegedly told the undercover officer “You something else.” He then allegedly sent the cop a photo of a man wearing boxer shorts with a hand on the genital area, along with several sexually explicit messages.
He was arrested on the new charges Thursday morning.
“The Explorers is an amazing program and our kids need to trust and have faith in its leaders,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement on Friday. “Although he was told that the ‘girl’ was just 14, the defendant allegedly sent explicit content to her.”
DeSouza has been assigned to a Brooklyn precinct.
In Queens, DeSouza is charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors in the first degree, official misconduct, obscenity in the third degree and attempted endangering the welfare of a child.
If convicted, DeSouza could face up to four years in prison. His next scheduled Queens court appearance is June 11. His defense attorney, Peter Brill, said DeSouza's next scheduled Brooklyn court appearance date is May 2.
Brill said the new charges don’t relate to any new underlying accusations, but relate to the investigation partly taking place in Queens. The Queens DA's office did not respond to requests for comment from Gothamist on Brill’s comments.
Tagged
queens
public safety
brooklyn
Giulia Heyward
Giulia Heyward is a breaking news reporter on the Day-Of desk. She previously worked at NPR, as a breaking news reporter, and the New York Times, as a reporting fellow on the national desk. Her work has also appeared in CNN, The Atlantic and Politico. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or more securely on signal at 917-715-1458.
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