Utah woman gets plea deal after pulling down teen's skirt in viral TikTok video

A Utah woman who went viral and was nicknamed “Karen” after allegedly pulling down a young woman's skirt she found too short and revealing in public has taken a plea deal to a misdemeanor sexual assault charge.

Ida Lorenzo, 49, confronted a young woman on April 20 at a restaurant in St. George, Utah, in an altercation that was partially caught on video.

In the video, posted on April 21, she appears to brag about working for the state while berating the young woman for her skirt.

“I happen to work for the state and if I have to watch your butt hang again, I’m calling Child Protective Services,” Lorenzo says in the clip, referring to Utah’s Child Protective Services.

The video was filmed by a woman in the group and was captioned: “Karen gets upset because my friend is wearing a mini skirt so she aggressively grabs her, pulls her down and says 'you're probably underage, you probably shouldn't wear that' then causes a scene in a busy restaurant.”

In the clip, the young woman in the skirt is not visible.

Lorenzo is seen speaking to a group of young girls who defend their friend, saying, “She's over 18. She's 19,” and “You have no right to touch her,” and urging her to call the police.

Lorenzo eventually called St. George police on April 21, a day after the incident, after seeing the video on social media. She called the dispatcher saying she had a job with the state and that the video posed a threat to her life, according to the probable cause statement.

She told police she confronted a young woman at a restaurant who was wearing “explicit clothing” that exposed her private parts in the presence of children. Lorenzo told police she felt it was her responsibility to address the woman and tried to pull the woman’s skirt down to cover her “exposed genitals,” according to the affidavit.

A police officer asked Lorenzo why he thought the young woman was underage and that it was appropriate to touch her. She responded that she never touched the woman, just her skirt. She told police that the woman and her friends filmed part of the incident and posted it on social media with the slogan “Karen,” according to the affidavit.

On April 22, the woman allegedly wearing the short skirt came forward to police saying she was sexually assaulted in a restaurant lobby on April 20.

She said Lorenzo confronted her while her back was turned and without any warning, “she felt cold hands pull up her skirt, touching her buttocks before she felt her skirt being pulled.” The victim said “she was surprised by the encounter and felt violated,” according to the probate affidavit.

The victim and seven other witnesses came forward and completed witness statements. The victim, a woman, said she was wearing underwear and shorts under her skirt, making any exposure impossible.

Lorenzo was charged with sexual assault, a class A misdemeanor.

However, that charge was reduced to a Class B misdemeanor as part of a plea agreement filed Aug. 7, according to Washington County court records.

She pleaded no contest to suspended sentence. Under the deal, she will not face any punishment for a year as long as she complies with conditions: she is not allowed to commit crimes, cannot contact the victim and must undergo a mental health evaluation.

Lorenzo's attorney, Susanne Gustin, said Tuesday that Lorenzo declined to comment on the plea deal.

The same day she was charged, Lorenzo received a termination letter from the Utah Attorney General’s Office, where she had worked as a legal secretary for less than two months, the Utah News Dispatch reported. The termination letter stated that she had “failed to successfully complete her probationary period” and cited “her failure to comply with policies and performance standards,” the newspaper reported.

NBC News has reached out to the attorney general's office for comment.