A Florida woman pretended to be a 14-year-old homeschooled child to prey on middle schoolers for sex, police announced Friday.
Alyssa Ann Zinger, 22, was arrested last week for allegedly engaging in at least 30 sexual acts with at least one student and sending explicit videos to several more.
“It is disturbing and unsettling to see an adult take advantage of a child and prey on them,” Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement.
“Anyone who may have been a victim of Zinger’s, we encourage you to come forward. The Tampa Police Department will support you and ensure a predator like Zinger doesn’t cause you or others additional harm.”
Zinger allegedly crafted her fake persona and communicated with her victims on social media platforms, mainly Snapchat, according to a search warrant obtained by the Tampa Bay Times.
Multiple victims, who attended Wilson Middle School in Tampa’s Hyde Park neighborhood, told police they believed the Zinger was their age but was homeschooled.
“There are believed to be additional victims,” Tampa police said.
The accused predator allegedly initiated a sexual relationship with one of the victims in May, which lasted through September, the warrant states.
The victim — a boy between the ages of 12 and 15 — told police that the pair had sex multiple times and that Zinger sent him explicit photos and videos.
Another said Zinger sent a video to several children through Snapchat depicting sexual intercourse.
Zinger allegedly admitted to one victim that she had engaged in sexual activities with other minors.
The accused pervert and one of the children were caught shoplifting at a Nordstrom in July, according to the documents.
She allegedly tried to keep up her facade in front of her victim and told an officer she was born in 2009, a lie he was unable to verify.
The officer confirmed the only other Alyssa Ann Zinger he could find information on was born in 2001.
In a desperate attempt at deception, Zinger claimed she had a half-sister with the same name, according to the warrant.
Police had already been investigating Zinger for about a year, according to the warrant.
The officer later dispelled her lies by requesting government, school and employment records, as well as following up with her Tampa Publix employers, all of which confirmed she was an adult.
One of her victims came forward about Zinger’s alleged inappropriate behavior just three months later.
Zinger was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery, and five counts of lewd or lascivious molestation on a victim between the ages of 12 and 15 years old, records show.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released from jail on the day of her arrest after posting the $7,500 bond on each of her second-degree felony charges.
