18-year-old hacker referred to prosecutors over cryptocurrency theft

He's 18. He's not "a boy".

Internet security companies should look to hire him. He obviously has the skills that would be helpful if steered in the right direction

this man should be hired for cyber security

At the very least it shows you how using Tor is anything but safe.

At the very least it shows you how using Tor is anything but safe.

Well, that's just a silly statement. TOR is going to be very safe for pretty much everyone. But if you steal 15 million yen, there suddenly becomes a lot of motivation to find you. They won't have actually been able to find him by tracing back through the TOR network, they would instead find a marker of something he did behind TOR, with something he did not behind TOR, to prove he is the same person. It's like when they caught the guy who built the Silk Road - he was using TOR, but he posted his real email address for like 30 minutes on a code question, and that code ended up being part of the Silk Road. So they were able to compare the email address he used behind TOR, with the one he used when not using TOR, and show he was the same person, and that his code was part of Silk Road.

TOR itself is safe and secure. If you are doing shady stuff though, and there is enough motivation to find you, there is a good chance you'll expose yourself on TOR somehow in a way that can connect your non-TOR identity to your TOR identity.