In December 2020, California “mom influencer” Katie Sorensen took to her social media account to relay a harrowing tale of attempted kidnapping.
Sorensen, who is white, claimed that a Latino couple had designs on kidnapping her two young children outside a Michaels craft store in Petaluma.
However, not only was the couple cleared of any wrongdoing, but on Thursday, Sorensen was sentenced to 90 days in jail for falsely reporting a crime.
In a video posted at the time of the incident to her social media account, Sorensen had said that the couple followed her around the store and gave her the “heebie-jeebies” after commenting on her children.
Sorensen added that they “weren’t clean-cut individuals” and that she remained silent because she was “paralyzed with fear.”
She claimed the couple continued to hover in her vicinity as she left the store and put her kids into her car in the parking lot, but that they drove away after she shouted for help.
Eventually, an arrest was made in the case: In 2021, Sorensen was taken into custody after police determined her claims were “resoundingly contradicted by the accused couple as well as store video that was obtained,” according to the district attorney’s office.
The couple that Sorensen accused told the Petaluma Argus-Courier that they believe the allegations from Sorensen were racially-motivated.
Sorensen was found guilty on one misdemeanor count of making a false report of a crime. She will serve 60 days of her 90-day jail sentence on a work-release program, according to a news release.
She will also be placed on informal probation for a year, during which time she must complete a four-hour implicit bias program, submit to warrantless search and seizure and will be prohibited from maintaining a presence on social media.
"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," Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement.
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