An influencer who snagged national attention after claiming a Latino couple had tried to kidnap her children is officially facing charges after an investigation concluded that she was lying.
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Katie Sorensen initially told her Instagram followers about the “incident” at a Michaels in Petaluma, California, as a warning of sorts.
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“Monday of this week, my children were the targets of attempted kidnap, which is such a weird thing to even vocalize,” she said. “But it happened. And I want to share that story in an effort to raise awareness as to what signs to look for and to just encourage parents to just be more aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them.”
Maybe if Sorensen had just kept her story to Instagram, things wouldn’t have escalated. But instead, she gave interviews and even ultimately filed a police report.
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Between all the accounts, she claimed a couple who “didn’t necessarily look clean-cut” followed her into the store, kept talking about her children, and then followed her back out to the parking lot without purchasing anything. She also accused the man of grabbing her stroller as she screamed for help and that there was a third man who popped out of a white van as the two fled and also acted suspiciously.
Well, police investigated and released a still from Michaels’ surveillance footage to determine the identity of the couple Sorensen accused of “attempted kidnap.” That’s when Sadie Vega-Martinez and Eddie Martinez recognized themselves and came forward to deny the influencer’s account.
“To get up and go shopping one day and then be accused of trying to abduct somebody’s children is heartbreaking,” Sadie said.
In addition to Sorensen interpreting a malicious motive for the couple simply shopping at a craft store at the same time as her and her kids, she allegedly gave false information about the incident to the police, including claiming that they suspiciously didn’t buy anything in the store—which was easily disproved by the security footage.
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As a result, Sorensen is being charged with two misdemeanors, which could carry a sentence of up to six months in prison each.
*First Published: May 2, 2021, 8:02 am
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