Monday, something reality star and heiress Paris Hilton he testified in a Salt Lake City courtroom about the alleged abuse he witnessed and experienced first-hand as a teenager at a Utah boarding school for “troubled teens.”
The Associated Press reports that Hilton stated in support of a bill that would require stronger government oversight of residential treatment centers for youth and force them to document their use of restrictions on residents. Ffollowing the emotional testimonies of Hilton and three other survivors, tmeasured unanideafeningly.
“I speak today on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care centers in the United States, ”Hilton told Utah State Senate Committee Hearing. “For the last twenty years, I have had a recurring nightmare where I am kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, searched and locked in a facility. I wish I could tell you that this disturbing nightmare was just a dream, but it is not ”.
Hilton, now 39 years old, attended Provo Canyon School for 11 months at 17 years old. The school boasts of its compassionate and professional approach to young people affected by emotional and behavioral issues, but Hilton says she was “verbally, mentally and physically abused daily” at the facility. ”
“Without a diagnosis, I was forced to consume drugs that made me feel sleepy and exhausted. I didn’t breathe fresh air or see the sunlight for 11 months, ”said Hilton. “Privacy was nil: every time I used the bathroom or showered, I controlled myself. At 16, as a child, I could feel his piercing eyes looking at my naked body. I was just a child and I felt raped every day. “
G / O Media may receive a commission
Hilton was first made public with his allegations against Provo Canyon in the documentary This is Paris, released in September 2020. Additional Provo Canyon survivors have shared theirs distressing tales of abuse after the documentary, including the tattoo the artist Kat Von D; inside Instagram video, Kat described her time in Provo Canyon as “the most traumatic six months of my life “.
In the attached title, Kat Von D wrote that it came up with “major post-traumatic stress disorder and other traumas due to the unregulated, ethical and abusive protocols of this “school” – and I can’t believe this site IS STILL WORKING ”.
Sits foundation 50 years ago, Provo Canyon has been the subject of several lawsuits, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. The school has distanced itself from allegations of abuse following the deluge of media attention they received after the Paris documentary. As of October 2020, the following message is included on the cover of the school’s website: “Please note that PCS was sold for its property prior to August 2000. Therefore, no we can comment on the patient’s operations or experience before that time. We are committed to providing high quality care to young people with special and often complex emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs. ”
There is also a link to a series of files recent press releases. “While we recognize that there are people for many years who believe they were not helped by the program, we are encouraged by the many stories former residents share about how their stay was a key point to improve – and in many cases, save- live, ”says one. But Provo Canyon’s suggestion that a new property put an end to 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 being overworked, detained and punished for minor infractions while on the girls ’campuses in Springville and Orem.
Kayla Smith was 8 years old when her parents, in coordination with her California school district, sent her to Utah in 2010.
He is now 19, but still feels a strain in his chest as he talks about his time there.
Smith recalled being searched and touched by staff, an experience that was foggy because she had been medicated before coming. Her first night was homesick, and staff put her in a solitary confinement room and locked her inside, which is against Utah regulations, which say they can’t block the “ waiting rooms ”.
This bill, by itself, is unlikely to end the cruelty that former attendees say is embedded in the culture of Provo Canyon’s multiple campuses, but anything that could make overly zealous staff falter before the body crushes a child and injects him with sedatives it cannot hurt. How Hilton he said reporters, “This bill will definitely help a lot of children, but obviously there is more work to be done and I will not stop until the change happens ”.