USA
Influencer mom invents attempted kidnapping of her children – now she has to go to prison
In the parking lot, she would have quickly placed the youngest child in the child seat for fear it could be kidnapped. The influencer mom told her followers in an Instagram video (symbol photo)
Three years ago, an influencer in the US claimed that her children were almost kidnapped. But as it turned out, the story was only made up. Now she has to go to jail.
An influencer in the United States faces a 90-day prison sentence for lying to the public about an alleged attempt to kidnap her children. Katie Sorensen, of Petaluma, California, was in tears when she arrived in December 2020 told her Instagram followers about the incident in a video. In a craft store, she was followed by a Latino couple. She would have overheard the two of them talking about their children’s looks. The strangers scared her.
In the parking lot, the 31-year-old said she first strapped her two older children into the back seat of her car, while the youngest was inevitably left unattended in a cart parked next to Katie. When the mother raised her head, the unknown couple suddenly stood very close to her.
She then quickly took the child out of the cart and placed it in the child car seat. With the video, she wanted to draw other parents’ attention to being more vigilant: “I think we’re all so distracted by what’s happening in the world right now that we make sure that masks are worn and that our children are themselves don’t get infected anywhere,” says Katie. “We may be forgetting the most important way to keep her safe, and that is to always have her close to us and not let it take her away.”
USA: Influencer mom has to go to prison for false testimony
The video went viral on the internet. The police viewed surveillance footage. This also featured a Latino couple. But what Katie Sorensen told officers differed from what she said in the video. Six months later, charges were suddenly brought against the mother for false reporting. The police had concluded that she had made up her story. The couple was able to refute the allegations against them in conversation with the officials. The two told ABC News that they were in the store to buy Christmas decorations. They also believed that Sorensen’s false claims were racially motivated – also to generate more followers.
In April of this year, the mother was taken into custody on $100,000 bail. On Friday she was sentenced to 90 days in prison. She also has to stay away from social media for a year and attend implied bias training.
Watch the video: Influencer and model Louise Boyce parodies the emotional behavior of a toddler on her Instagram account @mamastillgotit. As “Bernie”, the mother of three children imitates the anticipation of Christmas or the fussy eating behavior of a three-year-old in an inimitable way.
Sources: Sonomy County Attorney’s Office, ABC News