Jen Rovero Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is talking about the abuse she claims to have suffered at a boarding school in Utah.
Hilton, 39, appeared in a Utah court on Monday to testify against Provo Canyon School – the boarding school whose team members she accused of inflicting emotional, physical and psychological abuse during her stay as a teenager.
“My name is Paris Hilton, I am a survivor of institutional abuse and I speak today on behalf of hundreds of thousands of children currently in residential care institutions in the United States,” she said in her statement to the Utah Senate Judiciary and Police and Committee Criminal Justice. “For the past 20 years, I had a recurring nightmare in which I was kidnapped in the middle of the night by two strangers, searched and locked up in a facility. I wish I could say that this scary nightmare was just a dream, but it is not.”
Hilton then recounted his allegations against Provo Canyon School, saying, “I was verbally, mentally and physically abused daily. I was isolated from the outside world and stripped of all my human rights.”
Jen Rovero Paris Hilton
“Without a diagnosis, I was forced to consume drugs that left me numb and exhausted. I didn’t breathe fresh air or see sunlight for 11 months. Privacy was zero – every time I used the bathroom or showered – I was monitored” , he claimed. “When I was 16 – as a child – I felt his penetrating eyes looking at my naked body. I was just a child and I felt violated every day ”.
Hilton said she believed the alleged abuse at school continued for years after she left, saying the changes only started to be made after she spoke publicly in her documentary earlier this year.
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“I tell my story not to make anyone feel bad for me, but to illuminate the reality of what happened then and is still happening NOW,” she said. “The people who work, manage and fund these programs should be ashamed of themselves. How can people live with them knowing that this abuse is happening?”
Hilton then asked schools like Provo Canyon to be monitored more closely.
“I’ll be honest,” she said. “Talking about something so personal was and still is scary. And I can’t sleep at night knowing that there are children who are suffering the same abuse that I and so many others have been through. Neither are you. I am the proof that money does not protect against abuse . “
The 39-year-old businesswoman had already made her charges against the school in the YouTube Originals documentary. This is paris which debuted in September. The school is now under another direction.
Hilton has since advocated closing the Utah boarding school and other institutions whose staff members allegedly abuse minors.
Hilton’s testimony was one of three heard on Monday in support of a bill submitted by state senator Michael McKell calling for reform in state laws surrounding similar institutions. McKell was inspired to work with Hilton after she held a rally in Provo Canyon in October.
“I have buried my truth for so long,” Hilton told People exclusively in August 2020 about why she performed 20 years after her stay at the institution. “But I am proud of the strong woman I have become. People can assume that everything in my life has been easy for me, but I want to show the world who I really am.”
The socialite was sent to boarding school by her parents for 11 months in an attempt to tame her rebel parties.
RELATED: Paris Hilton and Drew Barrymore Reflect on Being Placed in Solitary Confinement as Teenagers
“It was supposed to be a school, but [classes] were not the focus at all, “she said.
“From the moment I woke up until I went to bed, I spent all day screaming in my face, screaming at me, continuous torture,” said Hilton. “The employees said terrible things. They constantly made me feel bad about myself and intimidated me. I think their goal was to bring us down. And they were physically abusive, hitting and strangling us. They wanted to instill fear in children, so we would be too afraid to disobey them. “
Many of Hilton’s former Provo Canyon School classmates also appeared in their YouTube documentary and shared their stories of alleged abuse.
When contacted by PEOPLE to comment on the allegations at the time, the school replied: “Originally opened in 1971, Provo Canyon School was sold for its previous property in August 2000. Therefore, we cannot comment on operations or the patient’s experience before from that time. “
In a second and more extensive statement released on September 17, after the documentary was released, the school said that officials do not use “‘solitary confinement’ as a form of intervention” or prescribe “any drug or medication as a means of discipline.”
“We do not tolerate or promote any form of abuse,” the statement continued. “Any and all alleged / suspected abuse is reported immediately to our state regulatory authorities, police and Child Protection Services as needed. We are committed to providing high quality care to young people with special and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric conditions. needs. “
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 170 languages.