Influencer sentenced after claiming Latino couple was trying to kidnap her kid
A white "mom influencer" from California has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after lying about a Latino couple attempting to kidnap her kids, the Sonoma County District Attorney's office announced June 29.
Katie Sorensen, 30, was convicted of filing a false criminal report in April after she posted an Instagram video in December 2020 accusing the man and woman of trying to kidnap her children from the parking lot of a Michaels craft store in Petaluma.
Authorities cleared the couple, identified in local media as Sadie and Eddie Martinez, of any wrongdoing.
The district attorney's office said in April that Sorenson's police report was “resoundingly contradicted by the accused couple as well as store video that was obtained.”
On Thursday judge Laura Passaglia ordered Sorensen to serve 90 days in jail, 60 of which could be served on a work release program.
Sorensen was taken into custody immediately after sentencing.
The judge also placed Sorensen on 12 months of informal probation during which time she was ordered to have no social media presence. She must also submit to warrantless search and seizure, complete a four-hour implicit bias training and pay various fines and fees.
“Ms. Sorensen has been held accountable for her crime and we believe the judge handed down a fair sentence," Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement.
Rodriguez added, "Our hope is that this measure of accountability will help provide some closure to the couple that was falsely accused of having attempted to kidnap two young children."
Sorenson alleged in her video that the couple followed her and her children through the craft store while making comments about them, according to NBC News.
"I definitely felt the heebie-jeebies,” Sorensen told viewers. “I didn’t feel good, but I thought I was judging a book by its cover. They were not kind, that sounds bad, but they weren’t clean-cut individuals.”
Sorenson went on to say she was "paralyzed with fear" by the couple, who she alleged followed her and her children outside to their car.
She alleged that she screamed for help, which caused the couple to leave the parking lot.
The couple told the Petaluma Argus-Courier that Sorenson's story was not true. They explained that they visited the craft store to buy a nativity scene and other decorations for a Christmas display.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
