Paris Hilton returned to the Utah boarding school where she said she was abused as a teenager, the latest stop in her yearslong campaign calling for reforms to what is commonly known as the troubled teen industry.
Supporting Families
This time Hilton was speaking in support of two families who filed lawsuits alleging that their children were mistreated at Provo Canyon School, the same facility where Hilton spent almost a year in the late 1990s. The hotel heiress and media personality alleges staff members beat her, watched her shower, fed her unknown pills and locked her in solitary confinement without clothing.
“I dreamed of becoming strong enough, successful enough and powerful enough to come back and be the hero that I needed when I was a little girl locked inside,” Hilton said. “Today is that day, and I am not backing down.”
Call for Reform
Hilton, 45, called on Utah licensors to shut down the school. She has testified about her experiences there in Congress and state legislatures around the U.S., helping pass laws to protect teens in Utah and 15 other states. Utah has long played an outsized role in the troubled teen industry, a network of private, for-profit residential centers for children with behavioral issues.
Aleah Corona, the mother of an injured student, alleged in a lawsuit that the school did not immediately help the 13-year-old after another resident slammed his head on the ground. The boy ended up with a fractured jaw and a traumatic brain injury, she said. Another family alleged their daughter had severe stomach pain and nausea for more than a week before the school sought proper medical attention. She then experienced kidney failure, their lawsuit alleges.
The school said it could not comment on specific cases due to patient privacy laws. “At Provo Canyon School, the safety, dignity, and well-being of those entrusted to our care are our highest priorities,” the school said in a statement.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
