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Paris Hilton, visibly emotional, at the hearing in the Utah Senate Chamber on Monday
Photo: Rick Bowmer / dpa
Singer, model and millionaire heiress Paris Hilton is primarily known for the bright sides of her luxury life.
But there were apparently also very dark hours in her past: In an emotional hearing on Monday, the 39-year-old described drastic scenes from her time at a private boarding school.
"My name is Paris Hilton, I am an institutional abuse survivor, and I speak on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of children currently living in nursing homes in the United States." This is how Hilton began her portrayals of the psychological and mental health issues, according to People magazine physical abuse at Provo Canyon School, which she attended for 11 months in the 1990s.
"I'm proof that money doesn't protect against abuse," said Hilton in front of the Utah Senate Chamber.
The local government is currently advising whether private facilities, such as the school that Hilton attended, should be controlled by the state.
Hilton said that she still vividly remembered being locked in a blood-smeared, small room with no bathroom.
In the facility, children were thrown against the wall, strangled and sexually abused.
The experience was "traumatic".
"For 20 years I've had a recurring nightmare where I was kidnapped, searched and locked in a facility by two strangers in the middle of the night," said Hilton.
"I wish I could tell you this agonizing nightmare is just a dream, but it isn't."
The senators were visibly surprised after Hilton's testimony.
"Honestly, we failed to protect you," Senator Derek Kitchen said after the hearing.
Last year Paris Hilton spoke about her experiences at boarding school for the first time in the documentary "This is Paris".
Since then, she has been campaigning for those responsible to be held accountable and for institutions like these to be more strictly controlled by the state.
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