DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — A 45-year-old man told Broward Sheriff’s Office investigators that a video he posted to Instagram of himself inappropriately touching a young boy was “just a joke,” according to an arrest report.

But Diego Ferreira de Souza now faces a very serious charge: Lewd and lascivious molestation of a victim under 12.

According to BSO, the crime happened on Saturday at Sand Point Sports & Fitness, an indoor volleyball complex at 1700 S. Powerline Road in Deerfield Beach.

Deputies said the boy’s father was playing there and the boy was watching. At some point after a match, they said the boy’s father received text messages from a friend about the video.

Authorities said the video shows Ferreira de Souza, of Boca Raton, asking the child questions about his favorite Brazilian football team and then asking the young boy whether he was “packing,” proceeding to fondle the victim’s genitals.

“He then picked up a black water bottle and compared it to the victim’s penis,” a BSO detective wrote.

Deputies said that Ferreira de Souza is known to the boy’s father. The boy’s exact age was redacted from the arrest report, though BSO Detective Brenda Louis noted that he “could not verbalize the anatomical term” for where he was touched, pointing it out on a diagram instead.

According to the report, the owner of the complex contacted Ferreira de Souza who said that the video “was ‘just a joke’ and that he had no bad intentions.”

With a Portuguese-speaking deputy interpreting, Ferreira de Souza, a Brazilian national, “repeatedly” reiterated that the video and his actions were “just a joke,” the report states.

“He further acknowledged that touching a child in this manner is a crime in the United States and stated he understood this,” Louis wrote.

Deputies took Ferreira de Souza into custody.

BSO records show he was being held without bond in the agency’s Paul Rein Detention Facility in Pompano Beach as of Tuesday evening. On top of that, he faces an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold.

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