A Florida woman is facing felony charges for allegedly posing online as a homeschooler to sexually assault an underage boy.

22-year-old Alyssa Ann Zinger was arrested in Tampa on Nov. 24 and taken to jail; she faces two counts of lewd or lascivious battery and five counts of lewd or lascivious molestation. The police do not believe this was an isolated incident.

“It is disturbing and unsettling to see an adult take advantage of a child and prey on them,” 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.”

Police say they were tipped off that Zinger allegedly had a relationship with a child between the ages of 12 and 15, and that following an investigation, they learned that she “communicated with the victim primarily through an online social media platform.”

  • Echo Dot
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    11 months ago

    Actually my godmother does this so I know a bit about it.

    It does sound sort of confusing at first but there’s more than one reason to homeschool someone usually it’s done if the kid requires special handling.

    Useful for when they’re even massively ahead or massively behind other children. It can be helpful in both cases for them not to actually have to be in a class with other kids and that way the lesson can go at whatever pace they’re comfortable with whether that’s accelerated or slowed down.

    Or sometimes they have a medical issue that makes going outside difficult or dangerous.

    Although I have no idea how it would work in this context since she apparently volunteered her services to children who were the wise wouldn’t be to make use of it.

    • OneWomanCreamTeam@sh.itjust.works
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      11 months ago

      Another pretty common reason is religious or personal concerns about the school system. I was homeschooled all the way through highschool because my mom was afraid I’d learn gay people exist if I went to real school.

    • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Sometimes it’s religious. My daughter was due to start kindergarten at the tail end of COVID lockdowns, so my wife and I were looking at options that didn’t involve her sitting in a room with 20+ kids… There are people that will homeschool small groups of kids, like 5 or so, and the public school system will pay them per kid so there’s no out of pocket cost to the parents. We interviewed with one family, and it was looking like it might be worth doing, they were obviously religious, but not obviously nutjobs, and I’m ok with my kids seeing that religion is out there as long as it’s not being forced on them… But then the mom said those magic words, evolution is “just one theory” and I couldn’t get past that. We ended up enrolling her in an online kindergarten.