Authorities say a Florida woman posed as a 14-year-old homeschooled child to prey on middle schoolers for sex.
Alyssa Ann Zinger, 22, is accused of engaging in at least 30 sexual acts with at least one student and sending explicit videos to several more. She was arrested last week.
“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 created a fake persona and communicated with her victims on social media platforms, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Multiple victims, who attended Wilson Middle School in Tampa’s Hyde Park neighborhood, told authorities they thought Zinger was their age but was homeschooled, the New York Post reported.
“There are believed to be additional victims,” Tampa police said.
Zinger allegedly started a sexual relationship with one of the victims from May to September, the warrant states.
The boy told police that the pair had sex multiple times and that the alleged predator sent him explicit photos and videos.
Another told authorities that Zinger sent a video to several children via Snapchat that depicted sexual intercourse.
Zinger allegedly admitted to one victim that she had engaged in sexual activities with other minors.
In July, the accused and one of the children were caught shoplifting at Nordstrom. It was then that her real age was uncovered.
The officer confirmed that she was born in 2001. notably, police had already been investigating her for about a year, according to the arrest warrant.
One of her victims came forward about Zinger’s alleged inappropriate behavior three months later.
She has been 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.
