“They’re acting like I’m a murderer,” says 23-year-old Alyssa Zinger, as officers conduct a search of her home following allegations that she engaged in sexual activities with boys as young as 12 years old more than 30 times.
Bodycam footage shows the moment when Tampa Police Department arrives at Zinger’s residence in Florida to serve a search warrant. Upon her parents’ return, her father’s reaction to the situation his daughter is involved in is quite unexpected.
On November 24 of last year, 22-year-old Zinger was arrested after a tip-off regarding her ‘inappropriate relationship with a male victim between the ages of 12 and 15.’
Police documents reveal that ‘Zinger contacted the victim by pretending to be a home-schooled student online, communicating with him primarily via an online social media platform.’
She faces two felony counts of lewd or lascivious battery, defined as ‘illegal contact’ with an individual aged 12 to 16 years old, regardless of consent. Additionally, she is charged with five counts of lewd or lascivious molestation from an adult defendant to a victim aged 12 to 15.
At the time, Chief Lee Bercaw stated: “It is disturbing and unsettling to see an adult take advantage of a child and prey on them.
“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.”
The newly surfaced bodycam footage from the raid shows Zinger and her parents waiting outside their home as officers complete the search inside.
The alleged ‘predator’ questions her father if the officers plan to post ‘the pictures online,’ implying any explicit images that might be on her phone.
She then complains to her father about the police’s thorough investigation: “They’re acting like I’m a murderer.”
Her father responds: “Hey, they don’t know who’s here, they’ve got to protect themselves this is a crazy world, people are mental they’ve got issues – there’s men probably out there that would do something stupid you know what I mean? They’ve got to protect themselves.
“Do you know what I mean? There’s a lot of crazy people out there.”
Zinger’s father is heard telling an officer that the charges against his daughter might have a positive aspect for their family.
“If I could say one good thing that’s come out of this it’s brought our family back you know? We’ve got our daughter back, she lays with us and watches TV she hangs out with us now, but she won’t have a phone ever again,” he says.
Earlier in the day, her father suggested his daughter is caught up in this situation because she associated with the wrong crowd.
He said: “She got messed up with the wrong kid you know, even though he’s a lot younger – he is, put it this way… my wife works for the federal government 38 years never been in trouble in her life, not a single thing. My daughter the same thing; me stupid little s*** when I was a kid um but we’re good honest people, hardworking people.
“She’s never been in trouble in her life, nothing but she met a kid and he even though he’s young – that’s why we’re we’re in this situation she never been in trouble in her life until she met him, and this kid’s like insane.”
Zinger is accused of engaging in sexual acts with at least five minors, including a relationship with one she met on Snapchat in May 2023 before ending it in the following September.
She has been held in jail since April and will remain there until her trial.