Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Travis Desouza, a New York City police officer, was charged with attempted dissemination of indecent material to minors, official misconduct and other crimes for allegedly sending sexually explicit content via an online app to an undercover officer posing as a 14-year-old. Desouza was assigned to a Brooklyn precinct and worked for the NYPD’s Law Enforcement Explorers program for young people.

District Attorney Katz said: “As alleged, this defendant took advantage of his position with the NYPD to prey on someone he thought was a 14-year-old who happened to be a police officer undercover on assignment. The Explorers is an amazing program and our kids need to trust and have faith in its leaders. Although he was told that the ‘girl’ was just 14, the defendant allegedly sent explicit content to her. Thank you to our partners in the NYPD for their assistance with this investigation.”

Desouza, 35, of Van Wyck Expressway in Briarwood, was arraigned last night on a criminal complaint charging him 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.

Criminal Court Judge Maria Gonzalez ordered him to return to court June 11. If convicted, he faces up to 1 1/3 to four years in prison.

 District Attorney Katz said that according to the charges, an undercover operation began into Travis Desouza’s conduct with participants in the Law Enforcement Explorers program at the 75^th Precinct in Brooklyn.

On October 3, 2024, at approximately 5:49 p.m., an undercover officer, posing as a 14-year-old girl, met with Desouza, who oversaw the program. Desouza asked for the undercover officer’s age, and she told Desouza that she was 14. The undercover officer asked Desouza for his phone number and he provided it.

A separate undercover officer, purporting to be the 14-year-old, had conversations with Desouza over the Snapchat app from October 8, 2024, to October 10, 2024. Desouza set the messages to disappear immediately.

On October 10, at approximately 10:11 p.m., Desouza allegedly told the undercover “You something else.” About a minute later, Desouza sent the undercover a photo of a man wearing boxer shorts with his hand on his genitals. He then allegedly made sexually explicit comments.

The conversations between the undercover and Desouza took place while the undercover officer was in an NYPD office building in Queens.

Assistant District Attorney Manaal Khokhar of the District Attorney’s Public Corruption Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Christine Oliveri, Bureau Chief, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Gerard Brave.