A wannabe Bay Area mom influencer who sparked panic among QAnon believers with a trumped-up story about the attempted kidnapping of her children has been found guilty of lying to law enforcement.
Katie Sorensen, 31, went viral in 2020 when she posted a series of videos to her Instagram account. She claimed that on Dec. 7, 2020, she took her two small children to the Michaels craft store in Petaluma. While in the store, she alleged, a man and woman began to follow her, “talking about the features of my children.”
Sorensen said the couple didn’t buy anything but followed her out to the parking lot. She accused them of taking “two steps forward, two steps back” before lunging for her stroller. Sorensen said she called for help, talked to the police and then decided to share her story on social media to warn other parents.
“My children were the target of attempted kidnap,” Sorensen says, sitting in her car. “Which is such a weird thing to even vocalize, but it happened, and I want to share that story with you.”
The videos accrued more than 4 million views before Sorensen made her account private. Soon, investigators said, it was clear Sorensen’s account wasn’t meshing with the evidence. Security footage from the Michaels did not corroborate her story, and Petaluma police said her retellings had “inconsistencies.” They soon cleared the couple, Sadie and Eddie Martinez, of any wrongdoing. Sorensen, meanwhile, took to local TV to repeat her story.
“I saw these people. They didn’t look necessarily clean-cut,” she said on KTVU. “I felt uncomfortable around them.”
Last week, a jury found Sorensen guilty of making a false report of a crime to a detective. Prosecutors say she faces up to six months in prison for the misdemeanor. She was taken into custody after the verdict and held on $100,000 bail, which she appears to have posted because Sonoma County Jail records no longer show her in custody.
According to an Elle report, Sorensen is believed to have moved out of state after the incident. Before her internet infamy, Sorensen was “a self-described ‘independent wellness advocate’ hawking essential oils from doTERRA, the multilevel marketing company beloved by small- to mid-level influencers,” Elle reported.
“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,” Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement. “The case is also important in that it illustrates the importance of using social media responsibly.”
Sonoma County court records show Sorensen will be sentenced on June 14.
