Who is Katie Sorensen? Insta faker who went viral for saying Latino couple tried to kidnap her kids faces jail
Katie Sorensen, a mom influencer, went viral in December 2020 after she shared a couple of videos on her Instagram handle alleging her kids were about to be kidnapped. Sorensen alleged the incident happened at Michael's craft store in Petaluma, California, and a local Latino couple attempted the alleged crime.
It has been confirmed that Sorensen was lying and she was charged with giving false information to police. The Sonoma, California, mother faces two misdemeanor charges for posting false allegations against the couple on her Instagram page which garnered millions of views. This is now being viewed as a case of racial profiling.
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Who is Katie Sorensen?
Sorensen was at just 6,000 followers on Instagram when she posted a video claiming her children had almost been kidnapped whilst she was shopping with them in the town of Petaluma, California. As soon as the videos went up, it was widely shared and highly engaged with, making her go viral almost immediately and her follower count rose to 80,000. However, a lot of these people also accused her of painting a false narrative, including the police as they spotted inconsistencies in her story.
Sorensen runs an Instagram account called @motherhoodessentials and while this page still exists on Instagram, her personal account and the two videos she posted have been made private since the accusations first came to light. Police in the Northern California City of Petaluma said that the story Sorensen told her followers, that the information she gave her followers, was not the same as the one she told them and that they didn't have enough information to make a case.
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 shared the video saying that speaking about the subject makes her uncomfortable but she was doing so just to raise awareness. "I think right now we are so distracted by everything that is going on in the world that we kind of have our guards up about masks and wanting to keep our children safe that way that we are forgetting the most important way to keep them safe, and that is with us and to not have them taken," she said in the video.
In a statement to Petaluma Police Department, she alleged she was "followed inside the store" by a man and woman who had "made comments concerning the appearance of [her] children." The police added, "The couple was said to have followed the woman to her car, where the couple lingered near the stroller as the woman placed her children in the vehicle."
According to another report, Sorensen said in her video that along with discussing the "features" of her children, one of them tried to "reach out, as if to grab the stroller" at one point. Sorensen later added she wanted to do more but just froze at the moment. “I saw these people, they didn't look necessarily clean-cut,” she told KTVU. “I felt uncomfortable around them, and instead of making them uncomfortable with my discomfort, I chose to remain in my discomfort.”
Eduardo and Sadie Martinez said they were victims of racism
"Yes, racism is alive and well in 2020. This is a perfect example of it." Sadie said once cleared of any wrongdoing by police. She made the statement at a rally held outside the store which was attended by people who called for an apology to the couple from Sorensen. "To get up to go shopping one day and then be accused of trying to abduct somebody's children is heartbreaking," Sadie had said.
"Do you really think it's OK to go online and be racist and make stories about a family?" she asked. "It's hard enough to be a Latin family in a white community," she said. She identified herself and her husband after police released a CCTV image of them and asked for a witness to come forward. “I couldn’t believe it. It’s like we’re literally guilty of being brown while shopping," Sadie had said at a press conference.
Katie Sorensen could get prison time for her false statements
According to sources, the Petaluma Police Department has sent the case to the District Attorney's office after they completed the investigation. Sorensen has been charged with two counts of misdemeanor and the maximum sentence on each of the count is six months in prison. Sources said it is rare that a defendant is given that much time in such a case unless there are “very specific circumstances” involved.