Influencer Mom Faces Charges In False Kidnapping Report: DA

PETALUMA, CA — An Instagram influencer who accused a couple of trying to kidnap her children in the parking lot of Michael's craft store in Petaluma is now facing charges in connection with the incident.

Sonoma resident Katie Sorenson, who has more than 72,000 followers on the Instagram account @motherhoodessentials, was charged Thursday with two misdemeanor counts of knowingly giving a false report of a crime to law enforcement, the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office said.

Sorensen is scheduled to be arraigned May 13 on the charges, according to the district attorney's office.

Sorensen claimed in multiple Instagram posts that on Dec. 7, 2020, a Latinx man and woman followed her into the store at 1359 N. McDowell Blvd., in the Redwood Gateway Shopping Center.

Sorensen went to the police station the day of and told the police as she pushed her two young children in a stroller, the couple walked behind her and made comments about her children's appearance, then followed her to her car, loitered nearby and left when another person noticed them.

In a subsequent Instagram post on the @motherhoodessentials account, Sorensen alleged that the man had approached her and attempted to grab the stroller.

Using in-store video from the store, officers identified the couple and said they cooperated fully with an investigation into Sorensen's claims. While the couple acknowledged they shopped at Michaels that day and were the couple shown in a photograph, they denied the woman's allegations, police said

After no evidence was found via interviews or the in-store cameras that either member of the couple had attempted to kidnap Sorensen's children, police on at least two occasions urged any other potential witnesses to come forward.

Police also started investigating whether the incident may have been falsely reported, and ultimately forwarded the cast to the DA's Office for possible prosecution.

Patch reached out to Sorenson for comment; this post will be updated if we hear back.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.