A California jury sentenced a woman for lying to police about a Hispanic couple who allegedly tried to kidnap their children from a Bay Area Michaels craft store in 2020.
Identified as Kathlee Sorensen, 31, she could be behind bars for at least six months after a jury returned a guilty verdict on one count of false reporting of a crime, the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office said. .
The conviction is due to an event that occurred on December 7, 2020, when the woman and her two children were shopping at a Michaels craft store in Petaluma, California.
After purchasing several items, Sorense left with the two children and left the parking lot, according to a statement from Sonoma County prosecutors. After a few minutes, the mother called the Petaluma Police Department to report that a couple tried to abduct the children.
Likewise, Sorense recorded and published on social networks a viral video about the alleged incident approximately a week later, the statement said.
In the footage, Sorense disclosed the incident in “great detail” and added “significant details that had not been disclosed to the Petaluma Police Department,” the district attorney’s office said. The woman participated in a local news program and repeated her story.
In a follow-up questioning with authorities, the mother identified a couple from the store video as the people who allegedly tried to abduct her children, according to the statement.
However, police said their statements turned out to be false and “was strongly contradicted by the accused couple, as well as by the video from the store that was obtained,” the district attorney’s office said.
A few days after the incident, Sadie Martinez identified herself and her husband as the couple accused of the alleged kidnapping, Petaluma Argus-Courier reported at the time.
Martínez, who is of Hispanic origin, suspected that the incident was racially motivated, since Sorense was white.
“I could not believe it. It is as if we are literally guilty of being brown while we shop, ”she expressed, according to the local outlet.
Following the verdict, Martinez told Elle magazine that she is “happy” with the conviction.
“After (Sorensen) avoided accountability for years, and then hearing that she was found guilty and left in handcuffs… yes, justice was served,” he said. “I feel like it’s a step in the right direction for my family. I am grateful for the support.”
Separately, the California jury found Sorense not guilty on two additional charges, CNN reported.
According to the mother’s attorney, Charles D. Dresow, Sorense is “grateful to have been cleared of two of the charges against her.”
“The evidence presented at trial was very different from how the case was presented outside of the courtroom,” he noted.
Following the decision, Sorense was taken into custody and bail was set at $100,000, the district attorney’s office said. She posted bail and was released until June 14, the day of her sentencing, Dresow said.
The maximum sentence for the misdemeanor is six months in prison, according to the district attorney’s office.
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