Utah couple charged with 29 counts of child abuse

MAGNA, Utah (KSL.com) — A Magna couple is facing more than two dozen charges of child abuse after police say the man punched, kicked and choked the woman’s three boys and made them do push-ups as a form of punishment, while the mother did nothing.

Kristopher Riley North, 34, and Sarah Louise Sorensen, 27, were each charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with 21 counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony; and eight counts of child abuse, a class A misdemeanor.

The investigation began Aug. 21 when Unified police responded to the couple’s home on a child abuse investigation. Sorensen told officers that she, North and her three children have lived together since 2018.

On that day, North became angry with Sorensen’s 6-year-old son for using the door handle to get out of North’s truck, according to charging documents. North told the boy to go upstairs and “get in a push-up position.”

“North then made (the boy) do push-ups. North told (the boy) he was not doing the push-ups correctly and kicked (him) twice,” the charges allege.

Police say North would also “kick, slap, or spank” the boy if he did not answer him using the word “sir.”

“Sorensen stated (the boy) missed a ‘yes, sir’ and North slapped him with an open hand ‘over and over,'” according to the charges.

The woman also reported North slapped her 9-year-old son multiple times the day before and grabbed him by the throat with both hands and “pushed up.”

North also allegedly punched the 6-year-old in June “with a closed fist … in the chest multiple times. Sorensen said the ‘momentum’ made (the boy) fall back and hit his head on the corner of a chair in the living room, causing him to lose consciousness,” the charges state. The boy “‘very clearly had a concussion’ as he was not speaking clearly, could not stand up on his own, and his pupils were dilated differently,” she told police.

But investigators say the mother did not seek medical help.

Sorensen’s 8-year-old son was also punched by North, who additionally pulled out the boy’s hair, “leaving bald spots,” the charges allege. The boy also told investigators about a time North allegedly pointed a gun at him.

When questioned by police, North admitted to spanking the children, forcing them to do push-ups as a form of discipline and putting his hands around their necks, the court documents say.

“North reported he ‘likes to grab them on the back of their neck and show them where they’re supposed to be and what they’re supposed to do.’ North further admitted he grabs the children by the front of the neck with one hand and ‘if they just breathe through their nose, they would be fine.’ North advised that he uses ‘enough pressure on the trachea that you can’t breathe through your nose, but you can breathe through your mouth,’ which ‘keeps them from talking,'” charging documents state. “North stated he has used his foot to ‘discipline’ the children when they are supposed to do push-ups and ‘if they want to be a baby about it, that is their … problem.'”

After examinations, a doctor concluded their injuries were consistent with being abused “over a span of several years.”

“The actions of both of these defendants are both egregious and concerning. While North committed the extreme acts of violence, Sorensen made the choice to watch the abuse happen, made the choice to allow the abuse to happen, made the choice not to seek medical care when needed, and made the choice to not seek help from professionals or law enforcement because ‘she just didn’t want to deal with it,'” prosecutors concluded in the charges.