TAMPA, Fla. (Scripps News Tampa) — The 22-year-old woman accused of pretending to be a 14-year-old girl in order to sexually assault teen boys will remain in jail while she awaits her trial.
Alyssa Zinger appeared in a Hillsborough County courtroom for her pre-trial detention hearing on Monday. She faces multiple charges, including lewd or lascivious molestation.
Alyssa Zinger appears in court Monday, April 8, 2024. (Scripps News Tampa)
At the pre-trial hearing, Detective Amanda Baranowski testified that investigations uncovered Zinger posing as a home-schooled 14-year-old on TikTok and Snapchat.
She allegedly tricked at least five boys between 13 and 14 into “dating” her. Baranowski said even family and friends of those boys met Zinger under the guise that she was a teenager.
Detectives found sexually explicit videos of Zinger and the victims, as well as text messages.
One victim told detectives Zinger got jealous of his new girlfriend and started sharing revenge porn.
“He indicated that a sexually explicit video of himself and another minor was being circulated through Snapchat,” Baranowski said.
Throughout the testimony, Judge Ward took note of Zinger’s response to the allegations.
“Every time something happens that the state puts on that maybe you disagree with, you shake your head no,” she said. “You don’t seem to understand that the problem is not who recorded the video. The problem is you are in multiple videos with young boys 13 and 14 years old, you are an adult, you are manipulating, taking advantage of these young boys.”
She also called out Zinger’s parents, who were present in the courtroom. Prosecutors showed body camera video from a search warrant visit to get Zinger’s phone.
“What I can’t understand is when they are trying to help you to the extent that it interferes with a criminal investigation and to the extent that it helps you evade accountability and responsibility,” the judge said.
Zinger’s phone was never turned over. Detective Baranowski testified she told law enforcement the phone was lost after they determined the phone they initially received didn’t belong to her. Any evidence they’ve seized so far comes from the victims and Zinger’s iCloud.
Prosecutors would not say if criminal charges are possible for her parents.
Meanwhile, the investigation to find if there are more victims continues.
Zinger has an arraignment scheduled for April 16th.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Tampa, an E.W. Scripps Company.
