TAMPA, FL – A 22-year-old Florida woman, Alyssa Ann Zinger, has been arrested following allegations of her pretending to be a 14-year-old homeschooled child to engage in sexual acts with middle school students, according to Tampa police. Ann Zinger is accused of having performed at least 30 sexual acts with at least one student and sharing explicit videos with several others.
She instigated and maintained her fake persona, leveraging platforms such as Snapchat to interact with her unsuspecting victims, as per a search warrant accessed by the Tampa Bay Times. Many of the alleged victims attended Wilson Middle School in Tampa’s Hyde Park neighborhood and were convinced that Zinger was their age but was homeschooled. Tampa police suspect there might be more victims involved.
The warrant disclosed that one of the victims, a boy aged between 12 and 15, reported a sexual relationship with Zinger running from May to September. The victim also revealed that Zinger shared explicit photos and videos with him. Another victim confirmed Zinger had distributed a sexually explicit video among several children through Snapchat. According to the document, Zinger admitted to one of the victims about her involvement in sexual activities with other minors.
Zinger was previously caught shoplifting at a Nordstrom store in July alongside one of the victims. She attempted to preserve her false identity, informing the police officer that she was born in 2009, a claim he was unable to validate. Her misleading tale of having a half-sister with the same name complicated matters. However, government, school, and employment records, as well as inquiries with her Tampa Publix employers, affirmed that Zinger was an adult.
Zinger was charged with two counts of lewd and lascivious battery, and five counts of lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim aged between 12 and 15 years old. Despite pleading not guilty to the charges, she was released from jail the same day after posting the $7,500 bond for each of her second-degree felony charges.