Apr. 29, 2023 at 6:05 pm

Instagram’s Katie Sorensen convicted for false crime reporting

April 29, 2023no commentNo tags

A California woman who widely publicized a fabricated story about how a couple tried to kidnap her children has been convicted of making a false report of a crime, prosecutors said.

Kathleen Sorensen, an Instagram influencer, reported the false crime to police in 2020 and proceeded to blast fabricated details to her social media followers and local TV news viewers.

Sorensen, 31, is in custody and could face up to 6 months in jail. She was charged in 2021 with three counts of providing false information to police.

Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said the jury’s guilty verdict will help exonerate the couple who were falsely accused of trying to kidnap two small children at a Michael’s craft store.

In court, prosecutors described Sorensen as an aspiring social media influencer who was seeking to expand her Instagram following and raise money, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.

“The case is also important in that it illustrates the importance of using social media responsibly,” Rodriguez said in a press release.

Sorensen is formerly of Sonoma, California, located 45 miles north of San Francisco.

SOCIAL MEDIA:Kids under 13 would be banned from social media under new bipartisan bill

What did Kathleen Sorensen do?

While in her car with her two small children after shopping at a Michael’s craft store in Petaluma, California, on December 7, 2020, Sorensen called police and reported that a man and woman had tried to kidnap her kids.

About a week later, Sorensen posted videos on Instagram sharing details about the errand and claiming her kids were the “targets of attempted kidnap.” The video included many details she had not told Petaluma police, prosecutors said.

In the video, Sorensen said she wanted to “raise awareness as to what signs to look for, and to just encourage parents to be more aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them.”

The fabricated story in the video went viral, gaining more than four million views, The New York Times reported.

DING DONG DITCH TRAGEDY:Southern California man found guilty of murdering 3 teens

Sorensen proceeded to do an interview with local news outlets including KTVU, an Oakland, California Fox affiliate, and gave even more fabricated details about the couple she falsely accused.

In the televised interview, Sorensen said the couple “didn’t necessarily look clean cut.” She also said a white van parked near her own car in the back of the parking lot and fabricated a story about the couple talking on the phone, describing her children’s physical features.

When police followed up with Sorensen after the TV interview, she identified a couple in store surveillance video as the kidnappers.

But the couple “resoundingly contradicted” the accusation, which was determined by police to be false, prosecutors said.

The store video itself also contradicted Sorensen’s claim, according to prosecutors.

Sorensen’s sentencing hearing is yet to be set, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office said.

TEXAS SHOOTING:Attack was ‘almost execution-style,’ sheriff says; suspect identified amid manhunt

Latino couple says fabricated story was racist

The Petaluma couple Sorensen falsely accused later went on the record and identified themselves as Sadie and Eddie Martinez.

They said they were shopping for Christmas decorations at Michael’s the day Sorensen decided to call the police. “It’s like we’re literally guilty of being Brown while shopping,” Sadie Martinez told The Petaluma (California) Argus-Courier in December 2020.

In a statement to The New York Times on Friday about Sorensen’s conviction, her lawyer, Charles D. Dresow, said he was disappointed with the conviction and “will evaluate our options moving forward.”

What’s everyone talking about?:Sign up for our trending newsletter to get the latest news

Source link

add a comment

Instagram’s Katie Sorensen convicted for false crime reporting

Leave a Response Cancel reply

Russian Lawmakers Approve Cryptocurrency Use in International Trade

US job openings fall marginally, consumers less upbeat on the labor market By Reuters

Elegance, Empowerment and Polo: The Impactful Legacy of Access Bank UK Polo

UK tourists in Madrid warned ‘don’t spend money’ and ‘stay out of restaurants’

Russian Lawmakers Approve Cryptocurrency Use in International Trade

US job openings fall marginally, consumers less upbeat on the labor market By Reuters

Elegance, Empowerment and Polo: The Impactful Legacy of Access Bank UK Polo

UK tourists in Madrid warned ‘don’t spend money’ and ‘stay out of restaurants’

Russian Lawmakers Approve Cryptocurrency Use in International Trade

Europe’s credit crunch will be the next chapter of this banking crisis

EU Slams Kosovo’s Closure Of Serbian Banks: Spokesman

Cryptocurrencies maintain their negative trend ahead of U.S. inflation data By Investing.com

YBS Commercial launches product to support SMEs – The Intermediary

Popular posts

[Event] Crypto and Digital Asset Fraud & Recovery – April 25th – 26th, South Kensington, London, United Kingdom | American Conference Institute (ACI)

My top 5 dividend shares for 2023!

Why Indian regulators have stood up to an overbearing Europe

Taxes fund disaster rebuilding cycle

Crypto Community Demands Investigation Into Gensler-FTX Ties

Sections

Contact Info

Leave a Response Cancel reply

You Might Also Like