A 28-year-old Vero Beach woman is behind bars without bond after investigators say she livestreamed the sexual abuse of her own two young children for her Michigan boyfriend to watch over FaceTime. Lisette Zamarripa was arrested Thursday, charged with two counts of sexual battery and one count of electronic transmission of child sexual abuse material, following a tip that originated with Michigan authorities and quickly funneled to deputies in Indian River County.
According to WPEC, the case began when Michigan State Police received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children involving suspected child sexual abuse material tied to a Kik account. Investigators there obtained a search warrant for the account and, per the station's report, identified Zamarripa by comparing material from the account with her Facebook profile. Michigan-based Internet Crimes Against Children investigators then determined the children were in immediate danger and alerted Indian River County deputies, who went straight to Zamarripa's Vero Beach home, the affidavit states.
A family member confirmed to investigators that Zamarripa was inside the home with her two children at the time, according to the affidavit cited in the same report. The children — a 1-year-old girl and a 2-year-old boy — are Zamarripa's biological children. Deputies seized her cellphone, which she allegedly said was used to record the material, and the Florida Department of Children and Families took custody of both children.
What Investigators Say They Found
Investigators told WPEC they found images and videos allegedly showing an adult woman engaging in sexual acts with the two children. Zamarripa allegedly admitted committing sexual acts involving both children during a FaceTime call with their biological father, and told detectives the acts had been discussed with him beforehand, per the affidavit. She reportedly identified the children herself when shown sanitized versions of the images, and admitted to the conduct described in the evidence, though she initially denied one allegation, the outlet reports.
The affidavit states Zamarripa livestreamed at least one incident specifically for the children's father to view. That father, Kenneth Conkle, lives in Michigan and is described in the affidavit as Zamarripa's boyfriend.
Same-Night Raid Secures Evidence in Michigan
Hours after Zamarripa's arrest in Florida, detectives with the Van Buren County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at Conkle's residence in Almena Township, moving immediately to secure digital evidence before it could be deleted. Conkle now faces Michigan charges including child sexual battery, along with four counts of production of aggravated child sexual abuse material and five counts of using a computer to commit a crime. He allegedly admitted to directing and recording the abuse, and separately confessed to abusing his own 1-year-old daughter, according to the affidavit. Florida charges against Conkle remain pending.
Capital Charges and a Legal Fight Already Brewing
The affidavit states prosecutors intend to seek a grand jury indictment on two counts of capital sexual battery, a decision tied directly to the children's ages. Under Florida Statute 794.011, sexual battery committed by an adult against a child under 12 is classified as a capital felony carrying a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole, according to Musca Law.
The capital designation carries even heavier stakes than a standard life sentence. In 2024, Florida enacted statutory provisions under Chapter 921 explicitly authorizing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for capital sexual battery against children under 12 — a move that directly challenges the U.S. Supreme Court's 2008 ruling in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which barred capital punishment for child rape, according to the Florida Senate. The provision sets up a potential constitutional showdown in any Florida capital sexual battery case that proceeds toward indictment, including this one. Zamarripa is currently held without bond on the two sexual battery charges, with bond set at $500,000 on the separate electronic transmission charge, and her arraignment is scheduled for October 14.
A National Surge in Digital Tips
The Kik-based CyberTip that cracked open this case is part of a much larger pattern. NCMEC received 21.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation nationwide in 2025, according to industry transparency disclosures. Nationwide, the 61 regional Internet Crimes Against Children task forces conducted nearly 347,000 investigations that year, leading to more than 17,000 arrests, per the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
The South Florida ICAC Task Force, which covers a 12-county region including the area around Indian River County, has seen its own CyberTip volume explode — from roughly 2,000 tips in 2017 to more than 25,000 in 2025, yielding over 500 arrests last year alone, according to Police1. Local sheriff's offices, including Indian River County's, lean on state grant funding to help cover the roughly $50,000 a year in operational costs tied to this kind of cyber exploitation enforcement, according to a Florida House of Representatives legislative analysis. Messaging apps like Kik continue to show up repeatedly in ICAC cases nationwide, task force reports show, due to features predators exploit to distribute illicit material discreetly.
Zamarripa was booked into the Indian River County Jail Thursday at 6:47 p.m., according to county booking records. The investigation remains active in both Florida and Michigan.
