Mom’s relationship with her daughter now after she anonymously bullied and harassed teen online for a year
Topics: Netflix, Documentaries, US News
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Documentaries, US News
A Michigan mom who cyberbullied her daughter for just under a year, sending her death threats and calling her an 'ugly a*s' in a barrage of hate that the 13-year-old received daily, has revealed where their relationship stands now.
Kendra Gail Licari pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor. She was sentenced to between 19 months and five years in prison after creating an online persona to send hundreds of texts to her then-13-year-old daughter, Lauryn Licari, and her then-boyfriend, Owen McKenny.
The now-45-year-old was arrested and charged with multiple counts of stalking and using a computer to commit a crime in December 2022. Still, it wasn't until April 2023 that she was convicted of any crime, and she was released from jail the following August.
The texts first began in October 2020; the 7th-graders were receiving suspicious messages from an unknown number.
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"Hi Lauryn, Owen is breaking up with you,' the first text read. "He no longer likes you and hasn't liked you for a while.
"It's obvious he wants me. He laughs, smiles, and touches my hair.
"We are both down to f**k. You are a sweet girl, but I know I can give him what he wants, sorry not sorry."
The messages soon died down, only to return with vengeance. In 2021, the pair again began receiving threatening messages from an unknown number.
"How’s the happy couple? Preparing for the end of a golden relationship? We hear about how you are the forever couple," one text read. "Owen loves me, and I will always be the girl he loves. He will be with me while your lonely, ugly a*s is alone."
While another read: "Trash b*tch, don’t wear leggings ain’t no one want to see your anorexic flat a*s."
While she was receiving the messages, Lauryn was being consoled by her mother, who told her to 'ignore them'.
Some of these read: 'Kill yourself now b***h', 'jump off a bridge', 'his life would be better if you were dead', and 'finish yourself or we will #bang'.
As for where their relationship stands, Licari told a film crew for Skye Borgman's new Netflix documentary, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, that she and Lauryn no longer have any contact due to a court order.
While she currently doesn't have permission to see her teenage daughter, she hopes they can build a relationship in the future.
"Every single one of us makes mistakes, not a single one of us has lived a perfect life, and realistically, a lot of us have probably broken the law at some point or another and not gotten caught," she said in the documentary.
Licari had previously expressed regret for her actions against her daughter and revealed the reason behind her actions.
Meanwhile, Lauryn described feeling torn as she lost trust in her mother; however, she also misses her.
She said: "Being without that relationship I think is really hurting me, and I think rebuilding our relationship will help both of us a lot. I love her more than anything."
As for how she was caught, Licari actually flagged her daughter's cyberbullying with the school alongside Owen's mom.
Law enforcement in Beal City, Michigan, then got involved and soon contacted the FBI, who ultimately discovered that it was Lauryn's mom all along.
They also discovered that Licari had been using a VPN (virtual private network) to hide her location. Still, the agency managed to track all the IP addresses before realizing they were all linked to Licari.
If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.