Criminals are stupid. I often wonder how many criminals would get away with their crimes if they weren’t stupid enough to brag about what they’ve done.

Anthony Michael Souza was proud of what he’d been doing, and while he wasn’t quite as stupid as Philadelphia gang-bangers posting what they’d done on social media, he was still stupid.

While he was not accused of abusing his students, prosecutors said Souza boasted to an undercover agent in 2024 that a 5th-grade boy he was “grooming” appeared “innocent, confused, uncomfortable,” during an exchange via Snapchat, according to court documents.

Yeah, that’s pretty stupid, but perhaps the entitled, savvy New York City boy thought no one would care. From the New York Post:

Sicko NYC theater teacher bragged about grooming kids, caught with trove of sick pics — now he’s headed to prison

By David Spector | Kentucky Derby day, May 2, 2026 | 9:24 AM EDT

A New York City theater teacher caught with more than 1,000 heinous images and videos of child sex abuse involving kids as young as 6 has been sentenced to 12 and a half years behind bars, authorities said.

In addition to a having trove of child pornography, some of which included footage of “abuse and rape of children, infants, and toddlers,” Anthony Michael Souza was found to have had sex with an underage teen for more than a year — and bragged about “grooming” his young students, according to Manhattan federal prosecutors.

Note that the victim is referred to as an “underage teen” rather than what he was, an underaged boy. But the Post writer confirmed that part further down.

Souza, 38, met his victim, then 15, on Grindr and filmed their sexual intercourse — and also allegedly hosted a “sex party” in which someone else had sex with an underage teen, according to court records.

The United States Attorney announced that Mr Souza was “sentenced to 150 months in prison for receipt and distribution of child pornography. Souza’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who also presided over the guilty plea.” Unless the announcement is seriously in error, it would seem that Mr Souza was not found guilty of the rape of a minor. Given that he pleaded guilty, while it is not explicitly so stated, it would appear that he was the beneficiary of a lenient plea bargain. Perhaps this was offered to keep his victim from having to testify in court, but it means that Mr Souza will be out of prison while still at a fairly young age.

Federal rape of a child is often prosecuted under Title 18 USC § 2241-2248. These crimes, which include sexual abuse and exploitation, have a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in federal prison, and the sentence can be as high as life in prison. Federal law requires that at least 85% of the sentence must be served before there is any possibility of early parole.

So, he’s getting off lightly for such a crime, but, looking at his photos, I am reminded of a scene in NCIS, in which Leroy Jethro Gibbs, while interrogating some college boys, said, “Believe me, son, you will not do well in prison.”