Paris Hilton returned to Utah’s Provo Canyon School in order to support two families who filed lawsuits alleging their children were mistreated at the facility.
On June 15, Hilton stood alongside families accusing the schools, where she says she experienced abuse as a teenager.
The media personality, who spent nearly a year at the residential treatment center in the late 1990s, has become one of the most prominent advocates for reforming the troubled teen industry.
Hilton said, “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.”
“Today is that day, and I am not backing down,” she added.
For those unaware, one lawsuit alleges a 13-year-old boy suffered a fractured jaw and traumatic brain injury after another resident slammed his head to the ground.
Meanwhile, another lawsuit claims a girl experienced kidney failure after staff allegedly failed to respond appropriately to severe stomach pain and nausea.
Paris Hilton herself has previously alleged that staff members at the school beat her, watched her shower, administered unknown medications and placed her in solitary confinement. She stated, “When I was 16 years old, I was ripped from my bed in the middle of the night and transported across state lines to the first of four youth residential treatment facilities.”
“I was forced fed medications and sexually abused by the staff. I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked and thrown into solitary confinement,” Hilton had added.
