Katie Sorensen to be sentenced in June following guilty verdict for filing false police report

Former Sonoma woman Katie Sorensen is scheduled to be sentenced June 14 after being convicted Wednesday of filing a false police report when she claimed a Petaluma couple tried to kidnap her children in December 2020.

Sorensen faces up to six months in jail after jurors found her guilty of one misdemeanor count of making a false report of a crime. She was acquitted of two similar charges.

“Ms. Sorensen is grateful that she was acquitted of two of the allegations against her. The evidence introduced at trial was very different than how the case has been portrayed outside the courtroom,” her defense attorney, Charles Dresow, said Friday.

Bail was set at $100,000 and Sorensen was placed in handcuffs moments after the verdict was read. She was released Thursday after posting bond.

The prosecution, defense and probation officials are tasked with coming up with appropriate sentencing terms before June 14.

Sorensen told Petaluma police a couple — later identified as Eddie and Sadie Martinez — tried to kidnap her children Dec. 7, 2020 at the Michaels store on North McDowell Boulevard.

The Martinezes said they were racially profiled, but testimony showed Sorensen claimed the encounter involved a white woman.

She first reported the suspicious encounter to a Petaluma police dispatcher and officer. This led to the two counts that resulted in acquittals.

Police conducted a third interview Dec. 14 after Sorensen discussed the matter in an Instagram video that went viral, attracting millions of views and thousands of followers.

Investigators said Sorensen claimed in her video, but not during the Dec. 7 interviews, a man tried to grab her son’s baby stroller.

Records show she was more confident Dec. 14 that the attempted kidnapping had occurred. Investigators showed a surveillance photo of the Martinezes and she verified they were the couple from Michaels.

Surveillance footage was presented during her trial and it showed she never interacted with anyone referenced in her version of events.

Police cleared the Martinezes of any wrongdoing. Sorensen testified she understood the couple never tried to take her children.

The Martinezes are withholding comment until after sentencing but their friend, Kinyatta Reynolds, 37, of Petaluma, said the couple is glad Sorensen exonerated them in court.

“It was nice for them to finally hear that and their names were cleared by her,” Reynolds said.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at 707-521-5390 and colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.