A Michigan mother was arrested for engaging in a harassment campaign involving catfishing against teenagers, including her own daughter.
According to the Morning Sun, Kendra Gail Licari, 42, was detained on Dec. 12 after authorities said she used an online persona to cyberbully her daughter and their ex-boyfriend, according to Unilad.
The suspect mother, who lives in Mt. Pleasant in Michigan, allegedly tried to blame another classmate student with their daughter for the harassment. She is accused of five offenses, including two counts of stalking a child, two counts of unlawful computer activity, and one act of obstructing the administration of justice.
The accusations were the result of an investigation that started in the Beal City School District in December 2021 as a result of intel about the suspect's daughter and her then-boyfriend being the targets of cyberbullying.
Catfishing Mother Gets Hit With Computer Crimes Charges
After joining the investigation in mid-January, local law enforcement turned to the FBI for assistance in April. Early in 2021, Ms. Licari allegedly started sending harassing texts to the teenagers while catfishing her daughter's age and using a false identity.
According to the Independent's report, the prosecution reveals that the messages were linked to IP addresses associated with Ms. Licari. Authorities were able to gather an alarming 349 pages of harassing texts and social media posts during the course of online cyberbullying. The suspect mother then fully confessed to the police after being questioned.
However, the suspect mother's motivation for the crime is still unknown. Since then, Ms. Licari has been freed on a $5,000 bond. In addition to five years for stalking and obstruction, Ms. Licari will also reportedly spend up to ten years in jail for computer offenses.
Alarming Rate of Cyberbullying Among American Teens
On a related note, Pew Research reveals that nearly half of American teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 have admitted to being the victims of cyberbullying.
The most frequent kind of cyberbullying, according to a survey that was taken between April 14 and May 4, was name-calling. At least 32% of the teenagers reported experiencing online or mobile teasing. Meanwhile, at least 22% of respondents stated that false and malicious rumors about them had been circulated online, and 17% indicated that they had received explicit messages they had not requested, which counts as harassment.
In relation to the recent crime, the Pew poll reports that 10% of the teens they surveyed revealed that they had been physically threatened, while an alarming 15% of the respondents said that someone other than their parents often inquired about where they were, which implies stalking.
However, the report finds that cyberbullying was not just limited to stalking and threats, as 28% of students stated that they had experienced various types of cyberbullying.
Six behaviors were listed in the report, including the use of derogatory language, the dissemination of false information online, receiving explicit images without asking for them, being physically threatened, having their whereabouts frequently questioned by people other than their parents, and having explicit images of them shared without their consent.
