Man on probation after hitting student at Provo residential treatment center

PROVO — A Provo man will spend two months on probation after pleading guilty to hitting a student at Provo Canyon School in Springville while he was a staff member there.

Mulimauga Tuiloma, 28, entered his guilty plea on April 28 to intentional or knowing child abuse with an injury, a class A misdemeanor, as charged.

School surveillance video from Sept. 9, 2024, shows him attempting to get two students under control when a third student got up from her desk and walked to the door, according to charging documents.

After Tuiloma stopped her, the girl slapped him, and he punched her "in the face with a closed fist," charges said. They said the girl fell to the ground and hit her head, and "appeared disoriented and confused" to the officer who responded.

She was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Tuiloma was sentenced on July 21 to one year in jail, but the sentence was suspended in favor of probation. He was also ordered to complete an anger management course.

Provo Canyon School is a youth residential treatment center that has been under scrutiny since media personality and businesswoman Paris Hilton called for its closure, along with other former residents who alleged emotional and physical abuse.

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