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Kat Von D says Provo Canyon 'strip-searched' her, told her she had HIV as Paris Hilton's petition gets 118K signs

Kat Von D said she was 15 when she was blindfolded and taken to the school where she was strip-searched, and if any child acted out, they were sedated and even sent to isolation

Socialite Paris Hilton’s bombshell documentary 'This is Paris' talks about the horrors of teen behavioral schools such as Provo Canyon in Utah and this has inspired many to speak up about their traumas at such boarding facilities. Now, Kat Von D, tattoo artist, model, entrepreneur and television personality, has opened up about her torturous ordeal at the same school in a 23 minute-long Instagram video which she posted on October 5.
 
Kat spoke about the abuse she suffered when she was admitted to the school at the age of 15. She stayed at the facility for six months. Kat started the video saying that she wanted to speak up about the abuse after watching Paris' documentary. Calling such schools "f***ing lockdown facility", in the video she said, "Paris talks about being kidnaped in the middle of the night and being taken to this place where there is verbal, mental, physical and sometimes sexual abuse." Likewise, Kat recalled being woken up from her bed in the middle of the night by two men and a woman and forcefully transported to the institution. "And if I didn't do what they say I would have to choose the hard way, which was getting handcuffed."

Kat alleged that she was 'blindfolded' while being taken to the place and then 'strip-searched'. She described the school as a “pretty crazy, torturous awful place". She further alleged that she saw mental, physical and sometimes sexual abuse being inflicted on students. The tattoo artist also spoke about the torture and punishment that students faced when they retaliated. "If you 'acted out' they would come around and inject sedatives in your butt." She added that children were even sent to isolation.

Recounting horrors and invasion of basic privacy at the school, she said she and others were made to "use the bathroom and showers in front of counselors". In another startling revelation, she said that the school lied to her saying that she had contracted HIV from tattooing. "It was just a scare tactic to make me stop tattooing," she said, mentioning how the school wanted her to leave the art that she was pursuing. 

Kat said it was after leaving this school that she indulged in drinking and taking drugs. She recounted "drinking bottles and bottles of whiskey" to escape her trauma after she left the school. In her ending remarks, she said these behavioral correction facilities exploit the fear of parents who want the best for their children. Kat mentioned that she was nervous about posting this video as she felt her parents would feel ashamed though they had good intentions. She said that she hadn't told her parents about what took place at the school.

Provo Canyon school claims to provide high-quality care to youth with special and often complex, emotional, behavioral and psychiatric needs. However, their stand has been refuted by Kat. The school claims that it's students have given it good rating, to which Kat added that they probably did it because they wanted to get out of the "awful traumatic place". 
 
Kat also thanked Paris for her documentary that gave her the courage to speak up. "Thank you, Paris Hilton for giving me the courage to share about being locked up for half a year, without ever seeing the sun, at Provo Canyon School in Utah. I spent those 6 traumatic months of my teenage years, only to leave with major PTSD and other traumas due to the unregulated, unethical and abusive protocols of this 'school' — and cannot believe this place is STILL OPERATING," Kat Von D wrote in the video's caption. 

Earlier we reported how Paris spoke about physical and mental abuse in the same Provo Canyon School ahead of the release of her documentary 'This Is Paris'. Later, her claims were backed by former students who gave details of torture where they were beaten, bullied and even allegedly sodomized.

Paris Hilton petitions to shut Provo Canyon

After Kat’s video, Paris started a petition to shut down Provo Canyon School that has garnered over 117,408 signatures. The petition launched on October 1 talks about the horrific legacy of abuse toward children at the school. It wants to shut the school down for the safety of the children.

On the other hand, Provo Canyon School claims to have changed its ownership from Charter Behavioral Health Systems to Universal Health Services, Inc, which runs healthcare services. However, the petition claims that change in ownership does not affect the school’s operations that continue to be abusive. The petition reads: "Although Provo changed ownership in 2000 and refuses to take responsibility or comment on operations and patient experience prior to that time, police records and patient testimonies prove that these actions and experiences still persist today."

The petition has also stated some facts on probes into the conduct of the school. It reads, "The Salt Lake Tribune reported that there have been 341 investigations into Provo by the Utah Department of Licensing in the last 5 years and only 27 of those investigations were substantiated. And yet, PCS nor their owner, Universal Health Services, have been held accountable. This facility stands both as a keystone and major influence in this corrupt industry, and it's closure would not only be highly symbolic but help to shift attitudes about child treatment programs as a whole."

As soon as Kat revealed her story, people took to Twitter to thank her. A user wrote, “Thank you, Kat Von D, for coming out about your time in PCS as well. We didn't spend much time together there but you were there when I was there. So sorry that happened to you." Another wrote in favor of Kat, "Kat Von D just revealed that she went to Provo Canyon School too and she was tortured there just like @ParisHilton. They shaved her head, they abused her and they made her believe for 6 months that she had HIV. These places need to close!"