Paris Hilton’s harrowing allegations that she was abused at a boarding school for troubled teens are resonating with 13 former students who say they also experienced abuse at the school.
Paris Hilton’s claims that she was abused at her boarding school for troubled teens are resonating with 13 former students who also say they also experienced abuse at the school. Inside Edition spoke to the students who, like Hilton, attended the controversial Provo Canyon School in Utah when they were in their teens or even younger.
Their harrowing allegations range from being put into solitary confinement and hearing screams through the vents at night.
“Every time I speak of it, it hurts,” former student Kayla Smith told Inside Edition.
In a new documentary about her life, Hilton talks about the harsh discipline she claims was imposed by the staff at school, which is a facility for troubled young people.
“Solitary confinement. Like something out of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’” Hilton said in the documentary. “They’d make people take their clothes off and go in there for 20 hours. I was just freezing. I was starving.”
She also spoke about her experiences on "The Drew Barrymore Show."
“All it did was give me trust issues, post traumatic stress disorder,” Hilton said. “I didn't deserve to go there.”
Katherine McNamara told Inside Edition she attended the school in the late 1990s with Hilton and was also placed in solitary confinement.
“It's cold, you have to take your bra and your socks, everything off, except they let me have a very thin t-shirt and shorts,” McNamara said. “The AC is blowing in there all the time to purposely make it uncomfortably cold.”
Sarah Stevenson said she was punished for being “too sarcastic.”
“I was deprived of any human contact or conversation for about 45 days,” Stevenson said.
Hilton has now taken on a new role as crusader as she speaks out about boarding schools that deal with troubled teens and the abuse she says takes place there.
The school posted on their website that they can't comment on what happened before 2000, because the school was under different ownership. But say they are committed to providing high-quality care to their students.
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