Michigan teenage girl finds out anonymous cyberbully is actually her own mother. Kendra Gail Licari, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, was charged as a result of an investigation that lasted a year and was sparked by a complaint of cyberbullying to Beal City Schools.
Licari collaborated with the kid's mother and school authorities to identify potential perpetrators because her daughter and the boy her daughter was seeing at the time were the targets of the harassment.
When the lawsuit was filed in December, Licari was coaching girls' basketball at her daughter's school. However, Isabella County Prosecutor David Barberi said the texts began as early as 2021.
The attacks happened away from school and didn't use school equipment. Soon, district officials didn't know how to find the person who did it. In January 2021, the district requested assistance from the police, and by April 2021, even the FBI's cybercrime section was involved.
After being able to block the IP addresses used to send the messages, the federal agency discovered they were connected to Licari.
Barberi says that the mother is thought to have used virtual private networks (VPNs) to hide where she was and to make it look like the messages came from places where other teens were present.
She attempted to make the texts appear to be from another youngster by using slang and acronyms. The prosecutor's office compiled a total of 349 pages of abusive text and social media communications.
Licari was confronted after being located and is said to have offered a complete admission of guilt. It's unclear why she chose to attack her daughter, though.
The mother, 42, was charged with two counts of stalking a child, two counts of criminal computer use, and one count of obstructing the administration of justice. According to the second accusation, the mother allegedly tried to use a different youngster as a scapegoat for her activities during the investigation.
After being charged, Licari was released on a ,000 bond. She might spend years in prison since stalking a kid and obstructing justice are both five-year felonies while using a computer to commit a crime carries a 10-year sentence.
On December 29, Licari is due in court for a hearing to decide whether there is enough proof to send her to trial.
Finding out that your own parent is the one harassing and bullying you online is a very different experience.
This is what happened to a minor in Michigan as a teenage girl finds out anonymous cyberbully is actually her own mother for a whole year.