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A Colorado teen moved by Paris Hilton’s tearful testimony about the abuse she endured at a school for at-risk teens in Utah has leveled her own charges against another youth program in the state.
Hannah Archuleta filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming that she was repeatedly punished for reporting an employee for sexually assaulting her in late 2018 at Turn-About Ranch, a residential program for at-risk youth in Escalante.
“I’m here to support Paris and many others who speak up against child abuse,” she said Wednesday at a press conference.
“If you or anyone you know has suffered sexual assault or child abuse or retaliation at any of the so-called Ranch’s therapeutic boarding schools, or wilderness programs, please report it.”
Archuleta alleged that an unidentified male employee assaulted her shortly after she arrived at the ranch when she was 17 years old.
“Within the first two weeks at Turn-About Ranch, a male staff member came up behind me and suddenly grabbed my butt,” Archuleta said.
“I decided not to tell anyone because I was scared of being punished, and I hoped that he would not touch me again. Sadly, I was wrong.”
Archuleta said that she confided in female staff members after the same employee grabbed her butt and touched her vaginal area while she was reaching for a cabinet.
But after speaking out about the episodes, the teen “experienced retaliation,” she said.
“In what appeared to me to be punishment for reporting my abuse, I was required to spend extra time picking up horse manure walking in circles around a horse corral and sitting at a desk facing a wall for hours,” Archuleta said.
Archuleta said that she was also forced to do labor outside in “below-freezing temperatures” and sleep on a wooden plank with no pillow.
“In addition, the retaliation included refusing the access to the bathroom, and denigrating and humiliating in front of others,” she said.
Archuleta said that the abuse continued until she was able to contact her parents, who picked her up from the ranch in December 2020.
“I am here today to spread the message to every parent in America: Do not send your children to these places or endorse them,” she said.
Her attorney Gloria Allred said they are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages in the state’s sixth juidical court.
The Turn-About Ranch didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
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