A mom influencer with QAnon leanings was convicted of lying about an attempted kidnapping of her kids

• Micro momfluencer Katie Sorensen was convicted of falsely reporting a crime.

• Sorensen went viral in December 2020 for claiming a couple tried to kidnap her children.

• Later, Sorensen identified a couple shopping for Christmas decorations as the perpetrators. Her story was false.

Katie Sorensen, a 31-year-old mom influencer, was convicted on one count of making a false report of a crime after she claimed a couple tried to kidnap her children at a Michael’s store in Petaluma, California, in December 2020.

On December 7, Sorensen took her kids to Michael’s, made a purchase, got into her car with her children, and left the parking lot, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s press release. Shortly after, she called and reported to the Petaluma Police Department that a couple had tried to kidnap her kids. A week later, she posted a video to Instagram, which subsequently went viral, discussing the attempted kidnapping “in an effort to raise awareness” and gave viewers more detail than she’d originally given to police, according to the press release. (Sorensen’s Instagram account is currently private, but snippets of the video have been reposted across social media). Sorensen also appeared on local news, reiterating the false claim that a couple had tried to abduct her children and describing the perpetrators as not “necessarily clean cut.”

When police followed up with Sorensen, she identified a local couple from the craft store’s footage as the perpetrators.

Following an investigation, however, Sorensen was charged with three misdemeanor counts of making a false crime report —  to a police dispatcher, to a police officer, and to a police detective.

During her trial, Sonoma County prosecutors successfully argued that Sorenson’s story was false, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on one count of reporting a false crime. (She was acquitted on two other related charges).

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

Sadie Vega-Martinez, who was accused by Sorensen as well as her husband, Eddie Martinez, told Elle magazine she was “happy” with the verdict and “grateful for the support.” Vega-Martinez said Sorensen had “avoided accountability for years” and the guilty verdict meant “justice was served.” In 2020, Vega-Martinez explained to the Petaluma Argus-Courier that the couple had been at Michael’s to purchase Christmas decorations and said she believed the false story was racially motivated.

Months before Sorenson’s false claims, she began posting about anti-trafficking awareness. She posted a 20-slide highlight reel to her Instagram (@motherhoodessentials) and a photo to her grid of herself holding what appeared to be a hand-drawn anti-trafficking sign, Elle reported, using the hashtag #savethechildren, a hashtag associated with the QAnon conspiracy movement. The magazine noted that many “overly online moms hopped on the anti-trafficking train” around that time, sometimes (intentionally or not) disseminating QAnon conspiracy theories in their posts and leading to misinformation that complicated real-life anti-trafficking work.

“The verdict of not guilty as to counts one and two rejects the theory that my client lied to the police on December 7,” Sorensen’s defense attorney, Charles Dresow, said in a statement shared with Insider. “The jury reviewed the actual evidence and found it to be very different than how the case has been portrayed outside the courtroom. We are disappointed as to count three and will evaluate our options moving forward.”

Sorenson was remanded into custody and her bail has been set at $100,000. According to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office, there’s no sentencing date yet, and the maximum sentence is six months in jail.

Read the original article on Insider