“Teen Torture, Inc.” is the latest documentary aimed at exposing alleged abuses within the massive “troubled teen” industry, which caters to parents and state agencies desperate to find help for struggling teenagers.
And like some of the others, this new HBO miniseries features programs that are based in Utah — a state long considered the epicenter of teen treatment centers. There are more than 100 programs here, and more kids are sent to Utah programs for treatment every year than to any other state.
Dig into our past coverage of Provo Canyon School and Turn-About Ranch to learn more about the programs featured in the documentary.
Provo Canyon School
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Aerial photo of Provo Canyon School's Springville Campus on Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021.
Jen Robison, who was sent to Provo Canyon School in 2003, described in “Teen Torture, Inc.” how she was chemically sedated with Haldol while at the Utah program. Chemical sedation is no longer allowed in Utah programs after a reform bill was passed in 2021 — but it was used so frequently in the past at Provo Canyon School that residents and staff referred to the sedative shot as “booty juice.”
[Read more: Utah ‘troubled-teen’ centers have used ‘booty juice’ to sedate kids, a practice outlawed in other states]
Celebrity Paris Hilton first started speaking out publicly in 2020 about the abuse she says she experienced at Provo Canyon School. After her documentary detailing her experience was released, others spoke up about their own similar experiences at the Utah program, which has been open since 1971. It is still operating today.
[Read more: Provo Canyon School’s history of abuse accusations spans decades, far beyond Paris Hilton]
Hilton, Robison and about 100 other former residents of troubled-teen programs rallied in front of Provo Canyon School in October 2020. Hilton told a Tribune reporter then: “To be out there on the streets just feels amazing. But just to be here with hundreds of survivors and everyone with their signs, it was just a very powerful and empowering feeling that we are making a difference. That we are being seen.”
[Read more: Paris Hilton leads rally against Provo Canyon School]
Turn-About Ranch
(Courtesy Hannah Archuleta) This 2019 photo shows Hannah Archuleta riding a horse while at Turn-About Ranch in Escalante, Utah. Archuleta sued Turn-About Ranch after she says she was sexually assaulted by a staffer.
Clay Brewer was 17 years old in 2016 when his family sent him to Turn-About Ranch, a program in Utah that’s been open since 1989. He had been there for just five days before he made a suicide attempt before beating a staffer, 61-year-old Jimmy Woolsey, to death and leading police on a chase through Garfield County. He eventually pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder in Woolsey’s death and also to second-degree felony aggravated assault for injuring another Turn-About Ranch worker.
Brewer was sentenced in 2018 to spend at least five years, and possibly up to life, in prison. He remains in prison today, and is expected to have his first parole hearing in 2031.
[Read more: In an emotion-packed hearing, a teen is sentenced for murdering a Utah staffer at a rehab ranch]
Woolsey’s widow, Brenda, sued Turn-About Ranch a few months after Brewer was sentenced to prison. In the lawsuit, she alleged the program broke its own admittance rules when Brewer was enrolled at Turn-About Ranch.
The case was settled last year, though details of the terms of that settlement are not public in court filings. Turn-About Ranch remains open.
[Read more: Lawsuit claims Utah rehab ranch broke its own rules by admitting an addicted teen — who then killed a staffer]
In the documentary, Danielle Bregoli — who is also known by her rapper name, Bhad Bhabie — said she was at Turn-About Ranch when Brewer killed Woolsey. Bregoli was sent to the Utah program after she appeared on the Dr. Phil show. Remember the “Cash me outside” meme circa 2016? That girl is Bregoli, talking to the Dr. Phil show audience before she was sent to Turn-About Ranch.
But she’s not the only teenager who was sent to Turn-About Ranch who said the program was abusive. A Colorado woman named Hannah Archuleta sued the Utah program in 2021, alleging a staffer inappropriately touched her.
Archuleta’s suit was dismissed last September as part of a settlement — details of which are not public in court records.
[Read more: Woman says she was punished at Turn-About Ranch after reporting a sexual assault]