Mom Charged With ‘Catfishing’ Daughter and Her Boyfriend for a Year

A woman from Michigan was arrested on December 12 after being accused of harassing and catfishing two teenagers over the course of a year. One of the teenagers was the woman's own daughter.

According to The Independent, 42-year-old Kendra Gail Licari of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, is currently being prosecuted on five counts, including two counts of stalking a child, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, and one count of obstructing justice for allegedly trying to frame another teen.

According to The Independent, 42-year-old Kendra Gail Licari of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, is currently being prosecuted on five counts, including two counts of stalking a child, two counts of using a computer to commit a crime, and one count of obstructing justice for allegedly trying to frame another teen.

Her daughter attended school in the Beal City School District, where Licari worked as a basketball coach. An inquiry into alleged cyberbullying incidents involving Licari's daughter and her then-boyfriend started in December 2021. To find and punish the cyberbully, Licari and the mother of her ex-boyfriend initially collaborated with the administration of the school.

Her daughter attended school in the Beal City School District, where Licari worked as a basketball coach.

An inquiry into alleged cyberbullying incidents involving Licari's daughter and her then-boyfriend started in December 2021. To find and punish the cyberbully, Licari and the mother of her ex-boyfriend initially collaborated with the administration of the school.

However, it quickly became clear that the school's resources wouldn't be sufficient to find the offender, who was using a personal device that wasn't on school property.

Local police then joined the investigation in January 2022, and the FBI joined in April.

Authorities collected 349 pages' worth of unsettling texts and social media posts addressed to the two teenagers.

The Oakland Press reported that the harassing texts started in early 2021 and appeared to be sent by someone who was Licari's daughter's age and used text-speak slang and shorthand.

Local authorities were unable to determine the origin of the communications, which appeared to emanate from the same location as the teens. Their cyber stalker evidently followed them wherever they went.

However, when the FBI's computer crime division entered the inquiry, they were able to use their own computer-tracing resources and determined that the cyberbully was utilizing a virtual private network (VPN) to change locations — and mask their IP address.

VPNs are fantastic for watching Netflix series that are only available in other countries, as well as masking data from your internet service provider. They are far less successful at dodging the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI eventually determined that the IP addresses used to send the messages belonged to Licari and swiftly said Beal City superintendent William Chillman that they suspected Licari of being involved in sending the messages.

“Even when we realized that it wasn’t a kid, we weren’t expecting that it would be a parent,” Chillman told ABC. “When they informed us later in the spring that they were suspecting that it possibly was her, it was a shock to all of us, I think everybody involved.”

When police met Licari, she allegedly offered a complete confession, according to Barberi.

However, Licari's motivation remains unknown for the time being.

“We had tens of thousands of text messages, whether they were messages that were just for her daughter or some of her daughter’s friends,” Barberi said. “And the digital footprint was just insane.”

She was released on $5,000 bond and now faces up to ten years in jail for computer crimes, five years for stalking a minor, and five years for obstruction of justice.

Licari is scheduled to appear  in court on December 29 to assess whether there is enough evidence for a trial.