A mummy blogger who falsely accused a Latino couple of trying to kidnap her kids while shopping in 2020 has *gasp* actually faced consequences for her shitty behaviour!
Karen Katie Sorenson (also known as @motherhoodessentials_ on Instagram) was sentenced to serve three months in county jail last Thursday, 60 days of which could be on a work release program, for “knowingly making a false report of a crime”.
The influencer was convicted in April, after which she was put on 12 months of probation — meaning she can’t have any social media presence, must submit to warrantless search and seizure including of her electronic devices, complete a four-hour implicit bias training, and pay a bunch of fines.
“Ms. Sorensen has been held accountable for her crime and we believe the Judge handed down a fair sentence,” District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement.
“Our hope is that this measure of accountability will help provide some closure to the couple that was falsely accused of having attempted to kidnap two young children.”
Pop off, DA.
Sorenson first accused Sadie and Eddie Martinez of kidnapping her children in December 2020, after encountering them in a Michaels craft store.
After she bought her items, she returned to her car with her two kids (aged one and four-years-old), drove to the local police station, and reported “suspicious behavior exhibited by two adults (a man and woman)”, per the New York Post.
She accused the couple of attempting to kidnap her children, despite the couple only buying a decorative baby Jesus for a nativity scene.
A few days after the police report, Sorens took to her 57,000 followers on Instagram and claimed the couple tried to kidnap her kids, embellishing the story with details she hadn’t included in her original report.
“My children were the targets of an attempted kidnapping,” she said in an IG video.
“I want to share that story with you in an effort to raise awareness as to what signs to look for and encourage parents to be more aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them.”
“I heard them [the couple] talking about the features of my children, but I was totally paralysed with fear,” Sorenson alleged in the video.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to say anything.”
Sorenson claimed that the couple had followed her around the store, and tried to grab her kids’ pram — information she didn’t report to police.
She also spoke about how distracted parents are these days, and how she believes focusing on wearing masks is causing parents to forget about real threats against their kids (HMMM). She ended it with claims that she felt unsafe and wasn’t sure if she would ever go out with her kids again.
Her video ended up getting more than 5 million views, and led to local news outlets interviewing her, where she dropped even more details about the alleged attempted kidnapping.
The news interviews prompted police to re-investigate Katie Sorenson’s claims — officers conducted a follow-up interview with Sorenson where she identified the Martinezes, but CCTV footage showed there was no suspicious activity going on at the time.
Sadie Martinez spoke at a rally outside the Michaels store she was accused of attempting to kidnap Sorenson’s children in, and accused Sorenson of targeting her because she comes from a Latin background.
“Yes, racism is alive and well in 2020,” she said at the time.
“This is a perfect example of it.”
“Do you really think it’s OK to go online & be racist & make stories about a family?” Sadie Martinez, mom of 5, speaks out after @petaluma_police confirm she & her husband did not try to kidnap Katie Sorensen’s kids outside @MichaelsStores, as she had alleged in viral videos pic.twitter.com/xXfvG7LXbU
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) December 19, 2020
“To get up to go shopping one day and then be accused of trying to abduct somebody’s children is heartbreaking,” Martinez said.
“Do you really think it’s OK to go online and be racist and make stories about a family?
“It’s hard enough to be a Latin family in a white community.”
Well, it looks like Katie Sorenson bit off more than she could chew with her false accusations.
Let’s hope we start seeing more Karens charged and sentenced for falsely accusing POC of crimes — these consequences are a long time coming.
