A California 'mom-fluencer' is facing criminal charges after falsely claiming in a series of Instagram stories a Latinx couple tried to kidnap her children.
According to local media, Katie Sorensen had just 6000 followers on Instagram when she posted a video claiming her two children were almost kidnapped after leaving a local mall.
Her follower count on her account immediately blew up to almost 80,000.
According to PEOPLE Sorensen, who goes by '@motherhoodessentials' on Instagram, alleged in an Instagram post she was pushing her two young children in a stroller when a couple approached her and tried to grab her pushchair.
She posted two videos about the incident, racking up more than 4.5 million views.
"I think right now we are so distracted by everything that is going on in the world that we kind of have our guards up about masks and wanting to keep our children safe that way that we are forgetting the most important way to keep them safe, and that is with us and to not have them taken," she said in the video.
But now her story is coming under scrutiny.
Sorenson was reportedly charged last week with providing false information to police and giving false information to a police dispatcher.
According to police, there was no evidence of the alleged kidnap attempt, either on mall cameras or via interviews with the couple, who police called "fully cooperative".
One half of the couple, Sadie Vega-Martinez, told CBS on Monday that when police first inquired about the alleged kidnapping attempt, she and her husband found it funny. "Because we have five children of our own, the thought of being accused of something so ridiculous was comical," she said.
It's now being viewed as a case of racial profiling.
While Sorenson's Instagram page is still active, it's now been changed to private.
