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

The prosecutor from the notorious High School Catfish case has delivered his verdict on the question that everyone is eager to know - why did Kendra Licari commit these acts?

For those unfamiliar with this unsettling story, you may want to watch Netflix's astonishing documentary, Unknown Number: The High School Catfish.

The documentary premiered on 29 August, depicting the true story of a teenage girl who was anonymously bullied online by a cyberbully who shockingly turned out to be her own mother.

Starting in October 2020, Lauryn Licari, then 13, and her boyfriend Owen McKenny, were bombarded with abusive text messages from an unknown number.

After a short break, the harassment resumed in September 2021, subjecting the teenagers to daily threats and offensive insults over the following 15 months.

As the situation escalated, school officials and the police became involved, with some of Lauryn and Owen's classmates being questioned as potential suspects.

However, no one anticipated the true identity of the perpetrator - Lauryn's own mother Kendra, who also shared her version of events in the documentary.

With the local police in Beal City, Michigan unable to solve the case, the FBI was called in to expedite the investigation.

After linking Kendra's phone number to the messages, which were sent through an anonymous texting app, Isabella County Sheriff Mike Main confronted her at home, in front of Lauryn.

In December 2022, Kendra was arrested and faced multiple charges including 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 five years in prison, being released on 8 August, 2024.

In the documentary, she described her behavior as a 'spiral' and a 'snowball effect', claiming she 'didn't know how to stop'.

Kendra elaborated: "In those moments, I was someone else. I was in a terrible mental place. It felt like I was wearing a mask, I didn't even recognize myself."

The prosecutor in the Unknown Catfish case has revealed why he thinks Kendra Licari did it (Netflix)

Now, with her motives still unclear, Isabella County prosecutor David Barberi has shared his thoughts on why she tormented her own daughter.

Calling it a 'million-dollar question', he told NewsNation's Banfield on Monday (8 September): "I don’t think anyone will ever truly understand why she did this.

"The prevailing theory we have is that it was about inflicting harm on her daughter."

Barberi continued: "I believe her daughter sought comfort from her, and throughout this relationship and harassment, she seemed to thrive on that."

In the documentary, the prosecutor also suggested that Kendra's actions could be likened to a form of 'cyber Munchausen syndrome by proxy'.

David Barberi was the prosecutor in the Kendra Licari cyberbullying case (NewsNation/Banfield)

What is 'cyber Munchausen syndrome by proxy'?

Munchausen syndrome by proxy, also known as Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA), is a mental illness and a form of child abuse, where the caretaker of a child, most often a mother, exaggerates or induces symptoms of illness in the child.

In this case, however, it was slightly different as it involved cyberbullying instead of illness, and as far as we know, Kendra has not been formally diagnosed.

"Attributing it to any medical foundation is somewhat challenging. … But there are elements of Munchausen by proxy - about causing harm to keep someone close - that certainly apply," director Skye Borgman told Tudum.