Utah has revoked the license of Provo Canyon School, a boarding school where socialite Paris Hilton says she was abused as a teenager, citing the school's failure to provide essential health and safety services. The state's action took effect Monday, giving the school 15 days to request a hearing before the Department of Health & Human Services.
State Cites Multiple Violations
The state's citations, dating back to 2025, include failing to increase staff-to-client ratios, engaging in unnecessary restraint and aggressive physical contact with a client, neglecting care, and not verifying employee information or submitting background checks for applicants in a timely manner. In May, state health officials imposed temporary restrictions after staff did not seek immediate medical care for a student with serious injuries.
According to the state's letter, all services at the Springville campus must be terminated by Aug. 6. Provo Canyon School did not immediately respond to an Associated Press email seeking comment.
Paris Hilton’s Response
“For more than fifty years, children came forward with stories of abuse, neglect, and trauma,” Hilton said in a statement. “Today, the state confirmed what survivors have known all along: Provo Canyon School failed the children in its care. I was one of those children. I know what it feels like to cry for help and believe no one is coming. Today, children still inside that facility know someone is finally coming to protect them.”
Hilton, now 45, spent nearly a year at the school in the late 1990s. She alleges staff members beat her, watched her shower, fed her unknown pills, and locked her in solitary confinement without clothing. She has testified about her experiences in Congress and state legislatures, helping pass laws to protect teens in Utah and 15 other states.
Broader Context of Troubled Teen Industry
Utah has long played an outsized role in the troubled teen industry, a network of private, for-profit residential centers for children with behavioral issues. In June, Hilton returned to the school to support two families who filed lawsuits alleging their children were mistreated there. The school is under new ownership, and the administration has said it cannot comment on events before the change, including Hilton’s time there.
