Influencer mom charged with falsely accusing Latino couple of attempted kidnapping in California
A California mom who claimed in a series of Instagram videos that a Latino couple tried to abduct her children is facing criminal charges for allegedly fabricating the whole story.
Katie Sorensen, a so-called influencer with thousands of followers on social media, is set to appear in court next week after being charged Thursday with giving false information to a police officer and giving false information to a police dispatcher, two misdemeanors carrying a maximum sentence of six months in jail, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.
The woman made headlines in December after posting two videos describing a recent attempted kidnapping at a Michaels store in the city of Petaluma, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. She said two strangers had followed her and her two young children inside the store, made comments about the kids to someone on the phone and tried to grab them in the parking lot.
“They didn’t look necessarily clean-cut. I was uncomfortable around them,” she said at the time, adding that she was “totally paralyzed with fear.”
Katie Sorensen says strangers tried to kidnap her kids outside the Petaluma @MichaelsStores after following them around inside. Her @instagram video (partial here) has hit 2M views. @petaluma_police investigating. She & @PollyDad speak out to @KTVU 5:15, 6:15, 7:30 p.m. pic.twitter.com/cG0wnm2JgQ
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) December 15, 2020
Sorensen later filed a police report and cops eventually identified and questioned the couple. But a review of surveillance footage and interviews with witnesses did not back up those claims and police determined that no crime was committed.
The couple, Sadie and Eddie Martinez, were so outraged that they decided to speak out, denouncing the white woman as racist for falsely accusing two Latino community members of attempted kidnapping.
“Do you really think it’s OK to go online and be racist and make stories about a family?” Sadie Martinez, a mother of five, said at a December rally outside the craft store, local news outlet KTVY reported.
Sorensen’s videos garnered millions of views before her popular Instagram account was turned private, according to the station.
Sadie said the couple was “very happy” with the arrest last week.
“It’s a nice step toward justice,” she told the Petaluma Argus-Courier. “It gives you hope.”
