Monday a reality star and heiress Paris Hilton testified in a courtroom in Salt Lake City about the alleged abuse she witnessed firsthand as a teenager at a Utah boarding school for “troubled teens.”
The Associated Press reports that Hilton testified in support of a bill that would require stronger government oversight of residential treatment centers for youth and require them to document their use of restrictions on residents. F.after emotional testimonials van Hilton and three other survivors, the measure beyond unanimous.
“I speak today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently living in residential care centers in the United States, ”Hilton said before the Hearing of the Utah State Senate Committee. “For the past 20 years I have had a recurring nightmare of being kidnapped, searched and locked up in a facility by two strangers in the middle of the night. I wish I could tell you that this terrifying nightmare was just a dream, but it’s not. “
Hilton, now 39, attended Provo Canyon School for 11 months at the age of 17. The school shows off its compassionate and professional approach to young people dealing with emotional and behavioral problems, but Hilton says she was “verbally, mentally and physically abused on a daily basis.” the facility.”
“Without a diagnosis, I was forced to take medication that left me feeling numb and exhausted. I haven’t breathed fresh air or seen the sunlight for 11 months, ”said Hilton. “There was no privacy whatsoever – every time I used the bathroom or showered, there was a check. 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. “
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Hilton first went public with her allegations against Provo Canyon in the US documentary This is Paris, released in September 2020. Additional Provo Canyon survivors shared their own survivors gripping stories of post-documentary abuse, including tattooing artist Kat Von D; in on Instagram video, Kat described her stay in Provo Canyon as “the most traumatic six months of my life. “
In the accompanying caption, Kat Von D wrote that she emerged with “major PTSD and other trauma due to the unregulated, unethical and abusive protocols of this ‘school’ – and I can’t believe this place STILL WORKS. “
S.from its founding 50 years ago, Provo Canyon has been the subject of various lawsuits, especially in the 80s and 90s. The school has distanced itself from allegations of abuse following a deluge of media attention they received after the Paris documentary. As of October 2020, the following message has been on the front page of the school’s website: “Please note that PCS was sold by the previous owner in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the surgeries or patient experience prior to that time. We are committed to providing quality care to young people with special, and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs. “
There is also a link to a series recent press releases. “While we recognize that there have been people over the years who think they have not been helped by the program, we are encouraged by the many stories former residents tell of how their stay was a crucial point in improving it – and in many fallen, saving – their lives, ”reads one. But Provo Canyon’s suggestion that a new owner end a cycle of abuse falls flat, given that the allegations have continued under current leadership.
From the Salt Lake Tribune:
Six women who went there between 2003 and 2017 told The Tribune similar stories of over-medication, restraint, and punishment for minor offenses on the girls’ campuses in Springville and Orem.
Kayla Smith was 8 years old when her parents sent her to Utah in 2010, in agreement with her California school district.
She’s 19 now, but she still feels tension in her chest as she talks about her time there.
Smith recalled being searched and touched by staff, an experience that was vague to her as she had been given medication before she arrived. She was homesick on her first night, and staff placed her in an isolation room and locked her inside – in violation of Utah regulations that say “ time-out rooms ” cannot be locked.
This bill alone is unlikely to end the cruelty that former visitors say is ingrained in the culture on Provo Canyon’s multiple campuses, but anything that can make an overzealous staffer hesitate before the body hits a child and injects it with sedative means can not hurt. As 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. “