Getty The daughter of Kathy Hilton has revealed she was sexually abused.
A daughter of a “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star has revealed she was a victim of sexual abuse.
Paris Hilton, the daughter of RHOBH star Kathy Hilton and the niece of both Kyle and Kim Richards, has spoken out about the abuse she suffered while attending Utah’s Provo Canyon School in an interview published by the New York Times on October 11, 2022.
Here’s what you need to know:
Paris Hilton Says She Was ‘Forced to Lie on a Padded Table, Spread My Legs & Submit to Cervical Exams’ While at a School in Utah in Her Teens
It’s known as the troubled teen industry. Spread across the U.S., these facilities and programs are supposed to help children with mental health and behavioral issues.
In reality, it is harming many of them. t.co/bCBYEdpVYm
In the article, Hilton says staff members of the school would “perform cervical exams” on students against their consent.
“Very late at night, this would be around like 3 or 4 in the morning, they would take myself and other girls into this room and they would perform medical exams,” Paris told the outlet. She said it was not a doctor but instead “it was a couple of different staff members who would have us lay on the table and put their fingers inside of us.”
After the story was published Paris took to Twitter to share more details.
“Sleep-deprived & heavily medicated, I didn’t understand what was happening,” she tweeted. “I was forced to lie on a padded table, spread my legs & submit to cervical exams. I cried while they held me down & said, ‘No!’ They just said, ‘Shut up. Be quiet. Stop struggling or you’ll go to Obs.'”
Paris says she is speaking about this for the first time to help the students who she believes this is still happening to.
“This was a recurring experience not only for me but for other #survivors. I was violated & I am crying as I type this because no one, especially a child, should be sexually abused,” she tweeted. “My childhood was stolen from me & it kills me this is still happening to other innocent children.”
The school calls itself a “compassionate behavioral health center” and says it is an “intensive, psychiatric youth residential treatment center” and will “evaluate the individual needs of each of our students and support their success by ensuring that they receive an effective array of services based on their individual level of need.”
According to the website, the school was founded in 1971 and treats students from ages 12 to 18.
“The Provo Canyon School staff is comprised of highly trained professionals who work together as an interdisciplinary team to provide coordinated care, support and guidance for each patient throughout treatment,” the site reads.
Some of the things the school says it treats are “Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety Disorders, PTSD, Schizoaffective Disorder, Mood Disorders, Para-suicidal behavior, Substance Abuse or Dependence, Behavioral Disorders, Learning Variances and Attachment Disorders.”
Paris says that, at the time, she didn’t “know what they were doing” but said it was “really scary, and it’s something that I really had blocked out for many years” according to the New York Times article.
The outlet also published a video from a surveillance camera that appear to show someone being assaulted in the school.
“According to lawsuits, government reports and the testimonies of former patients and employees, children are often abused, assaulted, sedated and placed in solitary confinement. Dozens of children have died,” the outlet reported.
In a lengthy statement to Heavy, the school says, “Provo Canyon School was sold by its previous ownership in August 2000. We therefore cannot comment on the operations or student experience prior to that time. What we can say is that the school provides a structured environment teaching life-skills, providing behavioral health therapy, and continuing education for youth who come to us with pre-existing and complex emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs. These youth have not been successful in typical home and school environments, and in many cases have a history of engaging in dangerous behaviors such as self-harming and/or attempting suicide, physical violence and/or aggression toward others, and use of illicit substances.”
The entire three-page statement can be read here.
In 2020 Paris Hilton Says the School Placed Her in ‘Solitary Confinement & She Faced ‘Continuous Torture’ Over 11 Months
This is not the first time that Paris has spoken out about the school.
In an August 2020 interview with People, she revealed psychological abuse at the hands of the school.
“I buried my truth for so long,” she told the outle. “But I’m proud of the strong woman I’ve become. People might assume everything in my life came easy to me, but I want to show the world who I truly am.”
She revealed she was sent to the school after consistently sneaking out and going to clubs and parties in her teens. She was a student of the school for 11 months, she told the outlet.
“It was supposed to be a school, but [classes] were not the focus at all,” Paris told the outlet. “From the moment I woke up until I went to bed, it was all day screaming in my face, yelling at me, continuous torture.”
She says she was placed in “solitary confinement” for planning to run away.
“The staff would say terrible things. They were constantly making me feel bad about myself and bully me. I think it was their goal to break us down. And they were physically abusive, hitting and strangling us. They wanted to instill fear in the kids so we’d be too scared to disobey them,” she told the outlet.
In an October 2021 interview on a SiriusXM podcast Lunch with Bruce Kathy, Paris’ mom, spoke about Paris’ early teen years.
“I was actually worried about Paris for a good while. She was sneaking out and she’d go missing and I wouldn’t be able to find her. Let’s put it this way — it got very out of control and I was scared for her. And my husband was very scared for her. And, you know, those nightclubs go on all night,” Kathy said of her teen daughter. “It was very scary. I mean, let’s just put it this way — there was times I did not sleep. How about for two days not knowing where your daughter is, and once hearing blood-curdling screaming, and then the phone hangs up. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff people don’t know. And I did get some flack. Well, trust me. I did what I had to do.”
Heavy reached out to Paris and Kathy Hilton and have not received a response.
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RHOBH Daughter Reveals She Was Sexually Abused at School