A California “momfluencer” was convicted for making up a story of how her children were nearly kidnapped by a Latino couple.
Katie Sorensen, 31, was found guilty on one count of making a false report of a crime Thursday and faces up to six months in jail.
“This verdict will enable us to hold Ms. Sorensen accountable for her crime, while at the same time helping to exonerate the couple that was falsely accused of having attempted to kidnap two young children,” Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez. “The case is also important in that it illustrates the importance of using social media responsibly.”
In December 2020, Sorensen posted a video to her now-private Instagram account detailing the fabricated story about how her children were the targets of an attempted abduction in Petaluma, Calif.
The mom-of-two was shopping at a Michael’s craft store where she purchased a few items and left the store to report to police that a couple inside the store tried to kidnap her children
“My children were the targets of an attempted kidnapping,” Sorensen said at the time. “I want to share that story with you in an effort as to what signs to look for and encourage parents to be more aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them.”
Sorenson has over 58,000 followers on her Instagram account titled, “motherhoodessentials.”
Sorensen had reported only suspicious activity by the couple, later identified as Sadie and Eddie Martinez, as she “did not want anyone arrested but wanted to draw attention to the concerning behavior exhibited by the couple,” according to the original press release from the Petaluma Police.
Several days later Sorensen told her story on her Instagram account which was later deemed suspicious by the police investigating the original claim.
Sorenson had gone into “great detail” about the abduction and added details that “had not been disclosed” to police during the over two-minute long clip, the Sonoma County District Attorney said in a press release on Thursday.
The video went viral, which led to Sorensen giving an interview with the local news station KTVU where she repeated her story and identified the couple.
Police used security cam footage from the store to identify the accused couple and deemed Sorensen’s claims to be false after the Martinez’ cooperated with the police, calling the claims a racial problem.
“Do you really think it’s OK to go online and be racist and make stories about a family?,” Sadie said several days after the incident was reported. “It’s hard enough to be a Latin family in a white community.”
The couple, who are parents themselves, were at the checkout counter buying a decorative baby Jesus.
Sorensen was charged in April 2021 with two misdemeanor counts of making a false report of a crime.
Following her guilty verdict, Sorensen was remanded into custody and her bail was set to $100,000.
