Social media is a dangerous tool when not used responsibly.
Katie Sorenson, a former Sonoma, California resident, and a social media influencer who makes her mommy presence felt faces conviction.
She posted a video narrating how a Latino couple attempted to kidnap her children but it backfired on her.
31-year-old Sorenson posted viral Instagram videos of how a couple tried to kidnap her two children at Michael’s store in Petaluma.
The videos were posted a week after Sorenson reported the supposed kidnapping attempt to police.
In those videos, she went on to describe a number of details about the alleged incident that she hadn’t disclosed to police.
Sorensen also went on a local news program to repeat her account of the event.
The vlogger mom identified a Petaluma couple seen in the Michael’s store surveillance video as the supposed perpetrators of the crime.
Her accusations were made on Dec. 7, 2020.
The accused couple, Sadie and Eddie Martinez, recognized themselves in a photo so they came forward to deny Sorensen’s claims.
“She wanted a stronger following; she was looking for, you know, content for her name and her income, and at our expense,” Sadie Martinez said.
Sorensen’s attorney, however, maintains his client did not lie to the police.
“She misperceived and misunderstood a series of random events, which were occurring around her, and made a honest report to the police on December 7th,” Charles Dresow said.
He added that Sorensen reviewed the evidence and realized she was wrong.
But social media isn’t so forgiving.
“I don’t think she had any understanding of how this would spread and the impact it would cause,” Dresow said.
Other legal experts also say this verdict is about accountability.
Authorities cleared Sadie and Eddie Martinez of any wrongdoing.
The investigation into Sorensen’s claims “produced no evidence” to support the allegations.
In the social media video, she claimed that the couple followed her into the store, and trailed her as she shopped with her children in a stroller.
Then the couple made comments about her kids’ appearance.
Sorensen described herself on social media as a “mom influencer”, and she said that the couple gave her the “heebie-jeebies” and “weren’t clean-cut individuals.”
She claims to not have said anything because she was “paralyzed with fear.”
In the video, she alleged that they followed her from the store to her car and even lingered near the stroller while she placed her children in her car.
She then claimed that the couple drove off after she yelled for help.
Sorensen was taken into custody on $100,000 bail.
She was charged with three misdemeanor counts of making a false report of a crime.
One to a police dispatcher, another to a police officer on Dec. 7, 2020, and her third a week later to a detective.
She was acquitted on the first two counts and convicted of the third for statements she gave to the detective.
Let’s hope she learns her lesson too.
The lesson here is, learn to use social media responsibly.
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