For a year, a teen girl and her boyfriend were harassed and bullied on the internet by an anonymous person.
Last week a suspect was charged. It was the girl’s mother.
Kendra Gail Licari, from Mt Pleasant in Michigan, USA, was hit with felony charges and accused of catfishing and cyberbullying her own daughter.
According to the New York Post, the investigation began when the school received a complaint about cyberbullying.
Licari, who was working as a girls’ basketball coach at her daughter’s school, joined with the boyfriend’s mother and school officials to figure out who could be behind the online stalking.
In January 2021, the district asked for assistance from law enforcement. By April, even the FBI’s computer crime division was involved.
“The mother is accused of having used virtual private networks (VPNs) to hide her location,” said Isabella County Prosecutor David Barberi.
The prosecutor’s office compiled 349 pages of harassing text and social media messages.
Eventually the FBI was able to lock onto the IP addresses used to send messages and realised they were linked to Licari.
Upon confrontation, Licari made a full confession about her actions. But the reasons for targeting her daughter remain unclear.
The 42-year-old mother was charged with two counts of stalking a minor, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of obstruction of justice. The latter charge alleges that the mother attempted to frame another minor for her actions during the investigation.
Licari was released on $5,000 (around R88,000) bail following the arraignment.
She is scheduled to appear on 29 December for a hearing that will determine whether sufficient evidence exists to bind her over for trial.
Compiled by Mashudu Mabila
Pictured above: Kendra Gail Licari
Image source: Isabella County Jail
