A white California “mom influencer” was sentenced to 90 days in jail for fabricating a story about a Latino couple trying to kidnap their children.
Katie Sorensen was convicted in April of making a false crime report after her December 2020 social media post alleging that a man and woman attempted to kidnap their two children from the parking lot of a Michaels craft store in Petaluma, about 40 miles north of San Francisco.
The accused couple was eventually cleared by the authorities of any wrongdoing. The district attorney’s office said in April that Sorensen’s report to police was false and “strongly contradicted by the accused couple, as well as by the store video that was obtained.”
Judge Laura Passaglia on Thursday ordered Sorensen to serve 90 days in jail, 60 of which could be served in a probation program, a Press release states She was immediately detained on Thursday.
Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said the sentence was fair.
“Our hope is that this accountability measure will help bring closure to the couple who were falsely accused of attempting to kidnap two young children,” Rodríguez said in a statement.
Sorensen’s attorney, Charles Dresow, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
In the social media video, Sorensen alleged that the couple followed her into the store, followed her while she was shopping with their children in a stroller, and made comments about their children’s appearance. The self-described “mom influencer” went on to say that the couple gave her “heebie-jeebies” and “were not well-defined individuals.”
Sorensen said she didn’t tell the couple anything because she was “paralyzed with fear.” In addition, she alleged that she followed her out of the store to her car and stayed near the stroller while she loaded her children into the vehicle.
She said in the video that the couple fled after she yelled for help.
The couple denied his claims and told the Petaluma Argus-Courier who were in Michaels to buy Christmas decorations. They said they believe Sorensen’s false accusations were racially motivated.
Sorensen was arrested and charged in 2021 with three misdemeanors for making a false report of a crime. She was found not guilty on two of the charges.
In addition to serving jail time, Sorensen was placed on a year of informal probation during which she is prohibited from having a social media presence, must complete four-hour implicit bias training, and submit to a warrantless search and seizure. court, the district attorney’s office said. saying.
