The mommy influencer who went viral in 2020 after falsely accusing a Latino couple of kidnapping her youngsters has been convicted.
According to a press launch from the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, Katie Sorensen was discovered responsible on one depend of constructing a false report of a criminal offense on Thursday. For those that don’t recall, the social media persona went to a Michaels craft retailer in Petaluma, California on December 7, 2020, together with her two younger youngsters. After grabbing just a few gadgets, she went again to her automobile and left the shop’s car parking zone. But a couple of minutes later, Sorensen referred to as the Petaluma Police Department to report {that a} couple had tried to kidnap her children.
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About every week later, she went on to put up two since-deleted movies on the Instagram account referred to as @motherhoodessentials detailing the fabricated story. Sorensen alleged that she was adopted by a person and a lady whereas she was purchasing at Michaels together with her children. She then claimed the pair saved making feedback about her youngsters earlier than attempting to strategy them within the car parking zone, per NBC News. The influencer mentioned when the person tried to succeed in into her stroller, she started to scream for assist. She advised KTVU in an interview:
“I saw these people, they didn’t look necessarily clean-cut. I felt uncomfortable around them, and instead of making them uncomfortable with my discomfort, I chose to remain in my discomfort.”
These posts garnered greater than 4 million views on the time. However, movies quickly had regulation enforcement’s eyebrows elevating. Why is that? It turned out the social media posts advised a unique story than what she advised police within the preliminary report. Following her tv look, authorities interviewed her as soon as once more. At that point, Sorensen recognized the alleged suspects as a pair seen within the retailer’s surveillance video.
However, the couple denied the accusations. Police quickly closed the kidnapping investigation after they discovered Sorensen’s report was false. The mother was arrested and charged with three misdemeanor counts of constructing a false report of a criminal offense.
The couple later got here ahead to disclose their identities in a press convention. Sadie and Eddie Martinez shared, per The Argus-Courier, that they have been merely purchasing for Christmas decorations that day and nothing extra, including:
It’s like we’re actually responsible of being Brown whereas purchasing.”
So, so terrible. A sentencing date has not been set but. But within the meantime, she was taken into custody following her conviction, together with her bail being set at $100,000. The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned she now faces a most sentence of 6 months in jail. Her lawyer, Charles Dresow, mentioned in a press release to 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.”
Meanwhile, District Attorney Carla Rodriguez additionally reacted to the decision, saying:
“This verdict will enable us to hold Ms. Sorensen accountable for her crime, while at the same time helping to exonerate the couple that was falsely accused of having attempted to kidnap two young children. The case is also important in that it illustrates the importance of using social media responsibly.”
We are glad some justice was served after her disgusting lie. Reactions to the decision, Perezcious readers? Let us know within the feedback under.
[Image via KTVU-2 Fox San Francisco/YouTube, Inside Edition/YouTube]
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