Saying she’s a state employee, woman tugs down another’s skirt at restaurant; charges filed

A Utah woman recorded in a viral video showing an ID badge and saying she’s a state employee after tugging down a young woman’s skirt that she said was too short is now facing criminal charges.

Ida Ann Lorenzo, 48, of Santa Clara, was charged Thursday with sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, after calling 911 on Sunday to report that a video of the confrontation was spreading online, and saying she holds a position with the state and was being identified, which she believed posed a threat against her life. 

The charge carries a potential sentence of up to a year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine.

A spokesperson for the St. George Police Department confirmed to KSL TV Lorenzo is a state employee. KSL TV reported it had received information Lorenzo may work for the Utah Attorney General’s Office; the office did not confirm Lorenzo’s employment, but told the TV station it is aware of the alleged incident and is addressing the situation.

In the video, which now has more than 200,000 views on TikTok, Lorenzo tells a young woman waiting at a St. George restaurant with friends “I happen to work for the state, and if I have to see your a** cheeks hanging out again, I will call CPS,” a reference to Utah’s Child Protective Services office.

According to a caption on the video, Lorenzo became “upset my friend is wearing a mini skirt, so she aggressively yanks it down and says ‘you’re probably underage, you probably shouldn’t be wearing that’ then causes a scene in a busy restaurant.”

Lorenzo met with a St. George Police officer Sunday after making the call, telling him the young woman was wearing a short skirt, and that a 10-year-old boy seated near her had pointed to the woman’s clothing and “the boy’s father did not do anything about it,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed in support of Lorenzo’s arrest.

“Ida felt that it was her responsibility to address the female by approaching her, and attempted to pull down the female’s skirt to cover what Ida explained to be exposed genitalia,” and threatened to call CPS to report indecent exposure in front of the 10-year-old, the officer wrote in the affidavit.

Lorenzo told the officer she believed the young woman was a minor as well.

“I asked her why she thought it was appropriate to touch another person, and how she thought that to protect a minor would mean to touch another assumed minor,” the officer wrote.

Lorenzo told the officer she never touched the young woman, only her skirt; the officer explained that touching the other woman’s clothing was criminal behavior and not appropriate, the affidavit states. 

“I asked her why she did not call the Police, and she told me that it would have taken the police too long to respond, so she had to take action herself,” the officer wrote.

Police were contacted the next day by the young woman in the video, who reported she had been sexually assaulted, the officer wrote. Seven additional witnesses came forward and provided statements to police.

The young woman told the officer Lorenzo approached her “while her back was turned to her, and without any notice, or formal warning, she felt cold hands go up her skirt, touching her buttocks before she felt her skirt being pulled on,” according to the affidavit. 

The officer wrote that he confirmed the woman had been wearing underwear and shorts beneath the skirt, which the woman said would make any inappropriate exposure “impossible.”

In meeting with the officer again, Lorenzo continued to deny touching the young woman’s skin, only her skirt. She said that she believed the young woman was a minor and she “felt that she needed to intervene,” according to the affidavit. Lorenzo “continued to state that she believed the female was completely nude underneath her skirt.” 

“I explained to Ida that the belief the victim was a minor, should have been more reason to not touch the victim,” the officer wrote.

Lorenzo was booked into Washington County Jail without incident, according to the officer’s report. She later posted bail and was released with a promise to appear in court, according to court documents. An initial court appearance is scheduled for June 19.