PROVO, Utah — Two families have filed lawsuits against a Provo school claiming staff failed to protect their children, including one instance in which a student suffered head injuries after an alleged assault.
Reality television star Paris Hilton, who attended Provo Canyon School in her youth, was in Utah on Monday to lend her support to the families and their legal battles. While speaking during a news conference, Hilton demanded the school be shut down.
"After hearing these family stories, we have to act," said Hilton. "The facts are clear. Children are not safe at Provo Canyon School."
In one of the lawsuits, the mother of a 13-year-old boy said her son was left with a brain bleed and a broken jaw from an incident this spring in which the Utah Department of Health and Human Services took action against the school.
Paris Hilton shares support for Provo school lawsuits in video below:
According to the lawsuit, Aleah Corona said her son was diagnosed with ADHD and depression, and struggled with behavioral challenges, which led him to the school. Attorney Alan Mortensen said the child almost immediately felt unsafe and reported his concerns to staff multiple times before the incident.
On May 14, Mortensen said another resident slammed the 13-year-old onto his head during a fight at the Provo campus, leaving him with serious head injuries. The lawsuit claims that even with staff present, tensions were allowed to rise between the two youths.
Even after the alleged assault, the child said emergency medical services weren’t called.
A Utah Department of Health and Human Services report found that Provo Canyon staff decided to transport the child to the hospital themselves, which potentially delayed treatment by up to an hour.
Provo school staff failed to call 911 after client left unconscious:
Corona said her son is doing well, but worries about the mental trauma he’s suffered. The family came to Utah from Montana to seek accountability from the facility they put their trust in to care for their son.
“We had already discussed safety concerns with them a week prior to the incident," Coronoa said. "They pulled it under the rug, they pretended like it was okay.
“We’re supposed to have our kids there in order to get them to succeed and learn and do better for themselves and the community… and this is what’s happening?”
The second lawsuit involved a teenage girl whose family claims she was left "critically ill" after she had developed a serious kidney-related condition.
"This is not a facility with problems. This is a facility that is the problem," Hilton said. "A culture of violence exists inside Provo Canyon School."
DHHS placed conditions on the Provo Canyon School’s license, including the inability to admit new clients during the 30-day action period, which expires Thursday. It also requires the school to immediately retrain staff on safe practices around emergency response and client supervision.
In a brief statement shared with FOX 13 News, Provo Canyon School said, "the safety, dignity and well-being of those entrusted to our care are our highest priorities," and that it is "committed to providing high-quality care to children and adolescents with special, and often complex, mental health needs."
