Mom Who Secretly Bullied Her Teenage Daughter Online For A Year Explains Why She Did It

A mother from Michigan has come forward to share why she chose to secretly stalk and harass her 13-year-old daughter for more than a year, shocking many who followed the case.

Back in 2021, Lauryn Licari began receiving numerous threatening and harassing texts from an anonymous number. Her then-boyfriend, Owen McKenny, was also being targeted by the same mystery sender, leaving both teens confused and scared.

Over the course of the year, the disturbing behavior escalated. Lauryn and Owen not only received repeated text messages but also abusive posts on social media from someone pretending to be their peer. The harassment made them believe they were being bullied by someone their own age.

Cosmopolitan reported that on some days the teens were bombarded with as many as 12 different texts and online messages. The sheer volume of the harassment made it nearly impossible to ignore.

Determined to help, Lauryn’s mom, Kendra Licari, joined forces with Owen’s mother and worked with school administrators as well as local law enforcement in Beal City, Michigan. When the situation failed to improve, the FBI was eventually brought in to track the source of the messages.

Investigators later discovered that the person behind the bullying had been using a VPN to disguise their location. Even with those digital barriers, the FBI managed to trace the activity back to Kendra herself, unmasking her as the culprit.

Lauryn Licari and Owen McKenny were stalked and harassed by Lauryn's mother, Kendra Licari, for over a year Netflix

Once confronted, Kendra was arrested. At first, she tried to claim that one of the teenagers had actually been responsible for sending the texts. However, under further questioning, she eventually confessed to being the one behind the harassment.

In 2023, she pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor. The conviction carried a maximum sentence of five years. She was later released in August 2024 under the terms of her plea deal, which also prevents her from contacting her daughter.

Until recently, Kendra never gave a clear explanation for her behavior. She finally spoke about it during Netflix’s documentary series Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, where she revealed her side of the story.

In the series, Kendra claimed she wasn’t the one who sent the very first messages to her daughter — those initial texts had suggested Owen was planning to break up with Lauryn. But she admitted she later continued sending more messages, which she said was part of her attempt to figure out what was really happening.

She explained: "The messages stopped for a little bit, and then they picked back up. In my mind, I'm like, 'How long do we let this go on? What do I do as a parent?'"

"I really wanted to get to the bottom of who it was. And that's when I started sending the text messages to Lauryn and Owen."

Kendra said she hoped the teens would share the messages with friends, which might help uncover where they were coming from. But instead, she admitted that once she started, she couldn’t stop herself.

She recalled how her behavior spiraled out of control, saying she didn’t realize how deep she was getting into it until it was too late.

"I started in the thoughts of needing some answers, and then I just kept going, it was a spiral, kind of a snowball effect, I don't think I knew how to stop," she confessed. "I was somebody different in those moments. I was in an awful place mentally. It was like I had a mask on or something, I didn't even know who I was."

In Netflix documentary 'Unknown Number: The High School Catfish' Kendra reveals why she did it Netflix

Since then, Kendra has spoken about her deep regret, saying in the documentary that she feels ashamed and devastated by the choices she made. She admitted she let her family down and is struggling to come to terms with her actions.

Her daughter Lauryn, meanwhile, revealed that the ordeal left her conflicted. She admitted that losing trust in her mother was painful, but she also still longs for the bond they once had.

She shared: "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."

The Netflix series Unknown Number: The High School Catfish is now available to stream, giving viewers a closer look into the shocking case and its emotional aftermath.