Utah Lady Accepts a Plea Agreement After Tugging a Teen’s Skirt Down in a Viral Tiktok Video
A Utah lady who went viral and was branded a “Karen” after being accused of pulling down a young woman’s skirt that she thought was too short and revealing in public has agreed to a plea deal on a misdemeanor sexual abuse charge.
Ida Lorenzo, 49, got into a fight with a young woman on April 20 at a restaurant in St. George, Utah, that was partially captured on camera.
In the video, posted on April 21, she appears to boast that she works for the state while chastising the young woman for her skirt.
“I happen to work for the state, and if I have to watch your ass cheeks hanging out again, I will call CPS,” Lorenzo says in the video, referring to Utah’s Division of Child Protective Services.
The video was shot by a girl in the group and captioned: “Karen gets upset my friend is wearing a mini skirt, so she aggressively grabs it, yanks it down and says ‘you’re probably underage, you probably shouldn’t be wearing that’ then causes a scene in a busy restaurant.”
In the video, the young woman in the skirt is not visible.
Lorenzo is shown speaking to a group of young females who defend their friend by claiming, “She’s over 18.” She is 19 years old,” “You are not permitted to touch her,” and urged her to contact the police.
Lorenzo contacted St. George police on April 21, one day after the incident, after seeing the video on social media. According to the probable cause affidavit, she called dispatch to report that she works for the state and that the video posed a threat to her life.
She informed police that she approached a young woman at a restaurant who was wearing “explicit clothing” that showed her private parts in the presence of children. According to the affidavit, Lorenzo thought it was her obligation to address the woman and attempted to pull the woman’s skirt down to cover “exposed genitalia.”
An officer questioned why Lorenzo, who presumed the young female was a minor, would feel it proper to touch her. She explained that she had never touched the woman, only her skirt. According to the affidavit, she told police that the woman and her companions recorded a portion of the encounter and shared it to social media with the slogan “being a Karen.”
On April 22, the woman accused of wearing the short skirt reported to authorities that she had been sexually assaulted in the foyer of a restaurant on April 20.
She claimed that Lorenzo accosted her with her back turned and that without notice, “she felt cold hands go up her skirt, touching her buttocks before she felt her skirt being pulled on.” The victim stated that she was “startled by the encounter and felt violated,” according to the probate cause affidavit.
The victim and seven other witnesses came forward to provide witness statements. The female victim stated that she was wearing underwear and shorts underneath her skirt, therefore she could not have been exposing herself.
Lorenzo was charged with sexual battery, a Class A misdemeanor.
The allegation was reduced to a class B misdemeanor in a plea agreement filed on August 7, according to Washington County court records.
She entered a plea of no contest. The agreement states that no penalty will be given for a year as long as she complies with the rules, which include not committing any crimes, not contacting the victim, and undergoing a mental health evaluation.
Lorenzo’s attorney, Susanne Gustin, said Tuesday that Lorenzo has declined to comment on the plea agreement.
Lorenzo received a termination notice from the Utah attorney general’s office on the day she was charged, after working as a legal secretary for less than two months, according to the Utah News Dispatch. According to the news site, the letter of termination stated that she “did not complete your probationary employment period” and noted “your non-compliance with performance-related policies and standards.”
The AG’s office informed NBC News in a brief statement Tuesday that “we are aware of the situation and are following AGO policies and procedures.”