• News
  • Life
  • TV & Film
  • Beauty
  • Style
  • Home
  • News
    • Celebrity
    • Entertainment
    • Politics
    • Royal Family
  • Life
    • Animals
    • Food & Drink
    • Women's Health
    • Mental Health
    • Sex & Relationships
    • Travel
    • Real Life
  • TV & Film
    • True Crime
    • Documentaries
    • Netflix
    • BBC
    • ITV
    • Tyla Recommends
  • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Make-up
    • Skincare
  • Style
    • Home
    • Fashion
    • Shopping
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
Submit Your Content
‘Obsessed’ mother fuels outrage after 'delusional' comparison when admitting to anonymously tormenting daughter online for over a year

Home> Entertainment> TV & Film

Published 17:25 11 Sep 2025 GMT+1

‘Obsessed’ mother fuels outrage after 'delusional' comparison when admitting to anonymously tormenting daughter online for over a year

Unknown Number's Kendra Licari has come under fire for a comparison she made in the Netflix documentary

Madison Burgess

Madison Burgess

Warning: this article contains spoilers for Unknown Number: The High School Catfish

Kendra Licari, the star of Netflix's Unknown Number documentary, has left viewers 'outraged' by the controversial comments she made about her crime.

If you're got no idea what we're talking about, the streaming platform dropped the new doc on 29th August - and the world has been gripped by the shocking real-life story.

Advert

It followed the case of a teen girl in the small community of Beal City, Michigan, who was cyberbullied by an anonymous texter

Back in October 2020, 13-year-old Lauryn Licari and her then-boyfriend Owen began receiving vulgar and vile texts from an unknown number and, after a pause, the messages resumed in September 2021.

As persistent and disgusting as ever, they continued for the next 15 months.

Concerned parents and school officials turned to law enforcement for help, and soon the local police force had enlisted the help of the FBI.

After a long investigation, which looked at some of Lauryn and Owen's classmates as suspects, it was revealed that the real culprit was someone no-one expected.

It was Kendra Licari - Lauryn's own mother.

Advert

In December 2022, the mother was arrested and charged with multiple counts of stalking and using a computer to commit a crime.

She pleaded guilty to two counts of stalking a minor and was sentenced to 19 months to 5 years in prison. She was released from prison on August 8, 2024.

As for her reasoning, Kendra said: "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.

"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."

Advert

She continued: "I let it consume me. I think it was more of an escape. It took me kind of out of real-life, in a sense, even though it was real-life.

"So when I was doing that and I wasn't myself, it removed me from my everyday life. Just kept going and going."

Now, after the unbelievable story has been made into a documentary, social media are discussing every little detail that the TV show revealed.

Kendra was sentenced to 19 months to five years behind bars, before being released on 8 August 2024 (Isabella County Jail)
Kendra was sentenced to 19 months to five years behind bars, before being released on 8 August 2024 (Isabella County Jail)

Advert

As well as the whole bullying your own daughter aspect, there is one particular comment the mother made that has left viewers seriously outraged.

When discussing her crimes in a confessional, Kendra compared what she'd done to drink driving and tried to justify it with the logic that everyone makes mistakes.

Taking to Reddit, one user wrote: "She can't be this delusional. Was she trying to justify herself in the end and compare driving after a few beers to extreme cyber stalking and bullying other kids and her daughter??"

A second agreed: "I had to stop watching soon after. Soooo enraged. What the actual f**k."

Advert

A third wrote: "It sure sounded like it. She also acted like it was justified because of her past."

And a fourth chimed in with: "The really delusional thing is she obviously thought this documentary would help redeem her. This lady seems to have taken no responsibility for her actions."

"What would she say if a drunk driver used the same excuse she did in court?" questioned someone else.

And another Redditor penned: "I mean she essentially said the only reason anyone cared about what she did was because she had been caught.

"That woman would STILL be doing this to this day had she not been caught. She wasn't remotely remorseful."

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Netflix, True Crime, Social Media, Entertainment, Documentaries, Crime, US News, World News

Madison Burgess
Madison Burgess

Madison is a Journalist at Tyla with a keen interest in lifestyle, entertainment and culture. She graduated from the University of Sheffield with a first-class degree in Journalism Studies, and has previously written for DMG Media as a Showbiz Reporter and Audience Writer.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • High School Catfish prosecutor answers ‘million-dollar question’ on why ‘obsessed’ mother tormented her daughter online for years
  • ‘Obsessed’ mother reveals bizarre reason for anonymously tormenting daughter as psychologist explains ‘Cyber Munchausen’
  • Teenage girl tormented by online catfish discovered the perpetrator was her own 'obsessed' mother
  • Heartbreaking moment father learned his own wife had been tormenting their daughter online anonymously

Choose your content:

7 hours ago
22 hours ago
a day ago
  • Instagram/@selenagomezInstagram/@selenagomez
    7 hours ago

    Selena Gomez posts underwear selfie and one detail has fans asking major question

    Selena has been promoting Season 5 of Only Murders in the Building

    Entertainment
  • Mike Coppola/Getty ImagesMike Coppola/Getty Images
    22 hours ago

    Selena Gomez makes heartbreaking admission after bipolar disorder diagnosis

    After a hard time dealing with her diagnosis, the Only Murders in the Building star has offered a helping hand to fans

    Entertainment
  • Instagram/@dan_rivera_nesprInstagram/@dan_rivera_nespr
    a day ago

    New Conjuring movie pays tribute to paranormal investigator Dan Rivera who died suddenly on infamous haunted ‘Annabelle’ doll tour

    The Conjuring: Last Rites, which hit cinemas on Friday (5 September) has ranked as the biggest global start in history for a horror film

    Entertainment
  • Mathew Imaging/FilmMagicMathew Imaging/FilmMagic
    a day ago

    Rosie O'Donnell recalls 'painful' fallout with Ellen DeGeneres in emotional admission

    Ellen DeGeneres previously told her fans she 'doesn't know' O'Donnell

    Entertainment