YouTuber Ben Schneider is 30 years old. But last winter, he posed as a teenager and convinced Provo Canyon School to admit him as a student. In a new video posted to his “Reckless Ben” channel, Schneider says he stayed at the Utah teen treatment program for two days before jumping a fence and running away.

Schneider and his friend Sheldon Norcross both brought small video cameras into the Utah program, the video shows. Schneider posed as a student, while Norcross was hired as a mental health technician, despite having a criminal history that would prevent him from passing a background check to work with young people.

Norcross worked at Provo Canyon School for about a month and described the program in his own YouTube video as “actually hell on earth” and “disgusting.”

In recent months, state licensers have revoked licenses for both Provo Canyon School campuses in Springville and in Provo, finding that staff used abusive discipline, unnecessary restraints and humiliated kids.

But Universal Health Services, which owns the programs, is appealing, and it’s possible the facilities could reopen if they prevail.

The company said in its statement that it’s “evaluating any appropriate action” against Schneider “based on the facts and applicable law.”

Schneider has already drawn attention in Utah through viral videos targeting Bricks & Minifigs, a Utah-based Lego resale company, over a disputed valuable Lego collection. His confrontations with the company and police have since led to criminal charges and lawsuits.

His hourlong YouTube video, which he posted on Saturday, shows clips that Norcross secretly captured of the training he got after he was hired. The clips show staff telling new employees that they hold teenagers in physical restraints 250 to 300 times a month, and one staffer reminisced about a previous era at Provo Canyon School where “we were f---ing slamming kids all over the place.”

Norcross recorded Provo Canyon School staff giving answers to applicants to pass a required exam to work in the mental health field, as well as several moments where trainers emphasized that Provo Canyon School is “heavy in the media,” and recited Salt Lake Tribune headlines about other Utah teen treatment programs before telling new staff to not to talk to reporters.

And, the videos showed, staff made repeated negative comments about media personality Paris Hilton — who went to Provo Canyon School in the 1990s, and alleges she was abused there. She has advocated for the shutdown of the program in recent years.

Hilton wrote Tuesday in an Instagram story that Schneider’s inside look at Provo Canyon School was “so disturbing” and she said she was “blown away” by his efforts to show what was happening inside the program.

“Hearing the way staff talk about me only fuels me to keep shining a light on the abuse and negligence that happens far too often in this industry,” Hilton wrote.

Universal Health Services purchased Provo Canyon School in 2000. It said in a statement Tuesday that it’s aware of Schneider’s video and the claims in it.

“The video presents a highly edited narrative that includes comments taken out of context, opinion and conjecture, and does not provide a complete or accurate picture of the circumstances described,” a statement reads.

The company said isolated comments or claims without full context shouldn’t be used to “characterize the care provided to all patients or the practices of the entire organization.”

“Provo Canyon School operates within a highly regulated behavioral healthcare environment and remains committed to patient safety, appropriate clinical care and accountability,” the statement reads.

The company confirmed that Norcross worked at Provo Canyon School during a “probationary period,” but said he did not work independently with clients. They said he passed an initial criminal background check, but when Utah did its own background check weeks later and said he was not eligible to work with young people, “proper steps were followed.” But they said Norcross quit his job before they could fire him.

UHS said the claim that Provo Canyon School staff performed hundreds of physical restraints monthly was not accurate.

UHS officials did not comment specifically on Schneider posing as a teenager and being admitted to Provo Canyon School. His video shows that he hired an actor to play his father, who convinced a therapist to vouch for him to go to Provo Canyon School because he said he was concerned his son was gay.

Schneider said Provo Canyon School accepted him with this diagnosis.

Schneider said he felt that the program was more interested in having a paying client than evaluating whether he needed help or was the age he claimed to be.

UHS has shown that it’s willing to take content creators to court: In early 2024, the company sued filmmaker and former YouTuber Rob Bliss after he similarly was hired at Provo Canyon School and tried to sneak in a camera.

That federal lawsuit alleged that staff discovered Bliss was a content creator, and he quickly quit the job. The company sued to stop him from sharing the footage or making content based on what he recorded within the program.

Bliss initially fought the lawsuit, but eventually agreed to a permanent injunction, agreeing to give up his footage and not publish anything he recorded at Provo Canyon School.