A mom influencer from California who went viral in 2020 after posting a video on social media claiming a Latino couple tried to abduct her kids has been convicted of making a false report of a crime, authorities announced this week.
Kathleen Sorensen, 31, formerly of Sonoma, was taken into custody after the jury returned a guilty verdict, according to an April 27 press release from the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office. A sentencing date has not been set. In the meantime, her bail was set at $100,000.
On Dec. 7, 2020, Sorensen told police a Petaluma couple attempted to kidnap her two young children at a Michael's craft store, the release states.
Mom Influencer Charged After Allegedly Fabricating Story that Latino Couple Tried to Kidnap Kids
About a week later, Sorensen outlined the allegations in two Instagram videos that were viewed over 4 million times. Those posts and her Instagram account, @motherhoodessentials, have since been deleted.
Authorities said in the release the social media post contained information that was not in the initial police report, but they have not specified what that information is.
In the viral posts, Sorensen alleged that she was followed by a man and a woman while shopping with her children, claiming that they made comments about her kids before attempting to approach them in the parking lot, NBC News reported.
Sorensen also claimed in the video that the man tried to reach into her stroller before she screamed for help, telling KTVU, "they didn't look necessarily clean-cut."
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Police interviewed her again after her TV appearance, and during that interview, she identified the purported suspects as couple seen in a store surveillance video. The couple denied the allegations and the kidnapping investigation was closed after the department determined Sorensen's report was false.
Police Investigate Mom Influencer Who Claimed a Couple Tried to Abduct Her Children
The couple identified themselves later that month in a press conference as Sadie and Eddie Martinez. "It's like we're literally guilty of being Brown while shopping," said Sadie Martinez, who was at Michael's with her husband shopping for Christmas decorations, according to The Argus-Courier.
Sorenson's attorney, Charles Dresow, told The Press Democrat, "The verdict of not guilty as to counts one and two rejects the theory that my client lied to the police on Dec. 7."
"The jury reviewed the actual evidence and found it to be very different than how the case has been portrayed outside the courtroom. We are disappointed as to count three and will evaluate our options moving forward."
Sorensen faces a maximum sentence of 6 months in jail, according to the prosecutor's office.
