John Jefferson
A Utah woman who became the subject of a viral TikTok video, after she yanked down a teenage girl’s skirt that she deemed too short, has reached a plea deal.
Ida Lorenzo, 49, who was dubbed a “Karen” in the clip, was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery over the April 20 incident at a restaurant in St. George that was caught on camera.
The video was posted to TikTok the next day 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 viral clip, Lorenzo appears to be berating the young woman for what she was wearing and threatened to call Child Protective Services.
“I happen to work for the state, and if I have to watch your ass cheeks hanging out again I will call CPS,” Lorenzo tells her.
The young woman wearing the skirt is not visible in the video. But her friends are seen coming to her defense as they fire back at Lorenzo, “she’s over 18. She is 19 years old” and “You don’t get to touch her”.
After the video surfaced on social media, Lorenzo called St. George police and claimed that because she holds a job with the state, the video was a threat on her life, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Lorenzo explained to police that the young woman was wearing “explicit clothing” and no underwear under her mini skirt which exposed her private parts with children present.
She pulled the teen’s skirt down to cover her “exposed genitalia,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
When Lorenzo was questioned by police about why she had touched the woman, Lorenzo denied touching her and said she had only touched the skirt when she pulled it down.
A day later, the young woman contacted police and reported that she had been sexually assaulted at the restaurant.
She claimed the woman had started speaking to her while her back was turned and then suddenly, “she felt cold hands go up her skirt, touching her buttocks before she felt her skirt being pulled on,” according to the affidavit. She added that “she was startled by the encounter, and felt violated.”
Seven other witnesses came forward and gave statements about the incident.
Lorenzo was charged with sexual battery as a class A misdemeanor. It was lowered to a class B in a plea deal that was reached on August 7, according to Washington County court records.
As part of the plea deal, no sentence will be imposed for a year as long as Lorenzo complies with the terms. She must undergo mental health evaluation, is not allowed to contact the victim and cannot commit any crimes.
On the same day Lorenzo was charged, she received a termination letter from the Utah attorney general’s office, where she had worked as a legal secretary for less than two months.
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