Paris Hilton burst into tears this week when she testified before a panel of Utah politicians that she was chronically abused there in a boarding school.
My name is Paris Hilton. I am a survivor of institutional abuse, ”the 39-year-old socialite told a Senate Committee hearing at the Utah Capitol on Monday.
Hilton, 39, was shown wiping away tears as she testified at the age of 17 about her alleged abuse at the Provo Canyon School in Beehive State, which she called “ hell on earth. ”
“I was verbally, mentally and physically abused on a daily basis,” Hilton said of her time when she was “no longer Paris” but just a number.
“I was cut off from the outside world and stripped of all my human rights,” she said, accusing the staff of being “bad and sadistic”.
“I cried myself to sleep every night and prayed that I would wake up from this nightmare,” she told the hearing.
Hilton – who previously discussed the abuse in a documentary “This is Paris” – said her 11 months in the so-called compassionate behavioral center caused ongoing trauma.
“For the past 20 years, I’ve had a recurring nightmare of being kidnapped by two strangers in the middle of the night, searched and locked in a facility,” she testified.
“I wish I could tell you that this terrifying nightmare was just a dream, but it’s not,” she said, saying she was afraid they “would never leave”.
She said she was “forced to take drugs that left me feeling numb and exhausted” and “did not breathe fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months.”
“There was no privacy whatsoever – every time I used the bathroom or showered – there was a check,” she testified.
“When I was 16 years old – as a child – I could feel their piercing eyes staring at my naked body. I was just a child and felt violated every day, ”she said,“ unconstitutional, demeaning and terrifying ”.
She claimed that a former executive – employed until her documentary aired – would brag to recent students that “she was the one who broke Paris Hilton.”
Hilton told the hearing that “talking about such a personal thing was and is awful,” but she wanted to bring about change to prevent others from being similarly abused.
Hilton’s testimony was to support a bill to require more government oversight of residential youth treatment centers and require them to document when they use coercive measures.
The measure passed unanimously after emotional testimony from Hilton and several other survivors.
Hilton called on President Biden and leaders in Congress to take action, saying she plans to pursue federal legislation.
“This is just the first step,” Hilton told reporters. “This bill will certainly help a lot of kids, but clearly there is more work to be done, and I’m not going to stop until change happens.”
In a statement on its website, Provo Canyon School says the previous owners sold the school in 2000.
Co-clerk Tim Marshall told KUTV that the school backed the bill and “eliminated the use of seclusion or isolation some time ago.” He also insisted that staff “do not use medication to calm, immobilize, or limit a patient’s ability to remain actively engaged in his care.”
With pole wires