Socialite and reality show star Paris Hilton described Utah lawmakers on Monday the “daily” abuse she said she suffered at an institution for troubled young people in the 1990s, while urging lawmakers to pass a bill that it would protect today’s teenagers from going through what she experienced.
“I was verbally, mentally and physically abused daily. I was isolated from the outside world and stripped of all my human rights, ”Hilton told the Utah Senate Judiciary, Police and Criminal Committee about her interactions with staff at Provo Canyon School, the residential center where she spent nearly a year as a teenager.
“I was forced to consume drugs that left me numb and exhausted. I haven’t breathed fresh air or seen sunlight for 11 months. There was no privacy. Every time I used the bathroom or showered, I was monitored, “she said.” At 16 – as a child – I felt his penetrating eyes fixed on my naked body. I was just a child and I felt violated every day. “
Hilton’s emotional testimony at the legislative hearing was one of three heard by the Utah committee in support of a bill sponsored by Republican state senator Michael McKell that calls for more regulation of institutions that are part of the so-called troubled teen industry.
“I cannot sleep at night knowing that there are children who suffer the same abuse as I and so many other people do. Nor should you. I am proof that money does not protect against abuse, ”said the hotel’s heiress.
McKell’s bill passed unanimously at the committee meeting and must now go to the state Senate for consideration before finally going to the governor’s table for approval.
If signed into law, the bill would require treatment facilities to document cases of physical restrictions and involuntary confinement and would prohibit chemical sedation and mechanical restrictions, said NBC affiliate KSL-TV in Salt Lake City.
Hilton, 39, said it was “scary” to talk about something so personal, but said she felt compelled to speak for the children who are still in these facilities.
“For the past 20 years, I have 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,” she said, referring to the night she was taken to Provo Canyon. “I wish I could tell you that this scary nightmare was just a dream, but it isn’t.”
“I don’t know if my nightmares are going to go away, but I know that there are hundreds of thousands of children going through this, and maybe if I stop their nightmares, it will help me prevent mine,” she said.
One of her worst memories, she told lawmakers, was of the Provo Canyon team putting her in solitary confinement.
“That little room covered in scratches and blood stains without a bathroom is one of the most vivid and traumatic memories I have ever experienced in my life,” said Hilton.
Hilton was sent by her parents to several other residential facilities before Provo Canyon, as she rebelled against her strict parenthood as a teenager. She first discussed her time at the institutions in her YouTube documentary, “This Is Paris”, which debuted in September.
Since then, the businessman has become an activist for teenagers who are still in these facilities. While in Provo Canyon, she said, she could not report the abuse, because all communication with her family and the outside world was monitored.
“I was silent for a long time,” she said on Monday.
Provo Canyon did not immediately respond to several requests for comment from NBC News in response to Hilton’s testimony.
However, the school released earlier statements in response to its allegations, noting that, as the school was sold to its current property in 2000 – after Hilton’s time there – “therefore, we cannot comment on the operations or the patient’s experience before that time ”.
“What we can say is that the school offers a structured environment teaching life skills, offering behavioral health therapy and continuing education for young people who come to us with pre-existing complex emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs,” said Provo Canyon in part of a statement released in October, when Hilton organized a meeting of fellow survivors of the troubled teen industry and called for the closure of Provo Canyon.
“While we recognize that there are individuals over many years who believe they have not been helped by the program, we are excited by the many stories that former residents share about how their stay was a crucial point in improving – and in many cases, saving – their lives. “
On a declarationMcKell said he was grateful to survivors like Hilton, who “use their platform and voice to draw attention to an industry that is in desperate need of reform. As a state, we will take the necessary steps to increase transparency and security to prevent further abuse. “
The former “The Simple Life” star said he plans to take his fight for more regulations to the troubled teen industry across the country.
“I tell my story not to make anyone feel bad for me,” Hilton said on Monday, “but to illuminate the reality of what happened then and is still happening now.”
Kurt Chirbas contributed.