A California woman has been sentenced to jail after lying to police that a couple tried to kidnap her children

By Elizabeth Joseph, CNN

(CNN) — A California woman has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after lying to authorities that a couple was attempting to kidnap her children, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office.

Kathleen Sorensen, 31, was sentenced to jail Thursday on a single count of knowingly making a false report of a crime. The conviction stemmed from an incident in December 2020, when Sorensen and her two children were shopping at a Michaels craft store in Petaluma, California, about 30 miles north of San Francisco.

After buying several items, Sorensen left with her two children and drove out of the parking lot, according to a news release from Sonoma County prosecutors. Several minutes later, Sorensen called the Petaluma Police Department to report a couple tried to kidnap her children.

Additionally, Sorensen recorded and posted a viral video on Instagram about the purported incident about a week later, according to the release.

In the video, Sorensen talked about 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. Sorensen also went on a local news program and repeated her account of events.

In a follow-up interview with police, Sorensen identified a couple from the store video as the individuals who tried to kidnap her children, the release said. But police said her report proved to be false and “was resoundingly contradicted by the accused couple as well as store video that was obtained,” the district attorney’s office said.

CNN has reached out to Sorensen’s attorney for comment.

Days after the incident, Sadie Martinez identified herself and her husband as the couple accused of the alleged kidnapping, the Petaluma Argus-Courier reported at the time. Sadie Martinez, who is Latina, suspected the incident was racially motivated – Sorensen is White.

“I couldn’t believe it. It’s like we’re literally guilty of being brown while shopping,” she said, according to the Argus-Courier.

In April, after a jury convicted Sorensen of lying to authorities about a false kidnapping attempt, Martinez told Elle Magazine that she was “happy” with the outcome.

“After (Sorensen) avoided accountability for years, and then hearing she was found guilty and walked out in handcuffs… yes, justice was served,” she said. “I feel like it’s a step in the right direction for my family. I’m grateful for the support.”

The district attorney’s office said 60 days of Sorensen’s sentence could be served in a work release program.

“Ms. Sorensen has been held accountable for her crime and we believe the judge handed down a fair sentence. Our hope is that this measure of accountability will help provide some closure to the couple that was falsely accused of having attempted to kidnap two young children,” District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a statement.

Sorensen was “also placed on 12 months of informal probation during which time she was ordered to have no social media presence, submit to warrantless search and seizure, to include her electronic devices, complete a 4-hour implicit bias training, as well as various fines and fees,” the release said.

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CNN’s Taylor Romine and Alaa Elassar contributed to this report.