0:00:00.000,0:00:01.883 [News announcer] Officials in the [br] 0:00:01.883,0:00:03.549 Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia 0:00:03.549,0:00:05.952 have taken custody of a 13 year old girl, 0:00:05.952,0:00:08.950 whom, they say, was kept in such isolation[br]by her parents, 0:00:08.950,0:00:11.181 that she never even learned to talk. 0:00:11.181,0:00:12.612 The girl still wore diapers, 0:00:12.612,0:00:14.231 and was uttering infantile noises, 0:00:14.241,0:00:16.159 when a social worker discovered the case 0:00:16.159,0:00:17.214 two weeks ago. 0:00:17.214,0:00:18.479 The authorities are hoping 0:00:18.479,0:00:20.949 she still may have a normal[br]learning capacity. 0:00:20.949,0:00:23.811 [Narrator] Among the first[br]to see the child 0:00:23.811,0:00:25.292 was Temple City detective, 0:00:25.292,0:00:27.461 Sergeant Frank Linley. 0:00:27.991,0:00:34.850 [Eerie music] 0:00:34.850,0:00:36.499 [Sgt. Linley] I already knew that 0:00:36.499,0:00:39.233 the child was 13 1/2 years old, 0:00:39.233,0:00:41.360 and I took one look at her, 0:00:41.360,0:00:43.163 and she wasn't much bigger 0:00:43.163,0:00:44.984 than my daughter, Beverly, 0:00:44.984,0:00:48.812 who had just turned seven[br]about 3 months earlier. 0:00:48.812,0:00:50.976 And, I really had a hard time 0:00:50.976,0:00:53.836 conceiving of the idea that the child 0:00:53.836,0:00:56.196 was the age that she was. 0:00:56.196,0:00:58.191 The child, uh, obviously, 0:00:58.191,0:01:00.475 had been severely mistreated. 0:01:00.475,0:01:02.561 She was still in diapers, couldn't walk, 0:01:02.561,0:01:05.121 she had no verbal skills at all,[br]at that point. 0:01:05.551,0:01:09.032 [Eerie music] 0:01:09.032,0:01:11.321 The last time I was on this street 0:01:11.321,0:01:14.431 was probably 30 years ago. 0:01:14.431,0:01:16.731 [Eerie music] 0:01:16.731,0:01:19.132 Yep, there it is. 0:01:19.132,0:01:20.851 Hasn't changed much. 0:01:20.851,0:01:22.380 The back yard looks the same. 0:01:22.380,0:01:24.422 It's all weeds and dead grass. 0:01:24.422,0:01:26.042 [Eerie music] 0:01:26.057,0:01:29.765 Looks the same as it did in 1970. 0:01:29.765,0:01:30.855 [Eerie music] 0:01:30.855,0:01:33.161 [Narrator] The house belonged[br]to Clark Wiley. 0:01:33.161,0:01:34.788 A loner, Clark had turned his 0:01:34.788,0:01:35.980 back on the world, 0:01:35.980,0:01:37.542 after his mother had been killed 0:01:37.542,0:01:39.250 in a hit and run accident. 0:01:39.250,0:01:40.890 After the accident, 0:01:40.890,0:01:42.320 things in the Wiley house 0:01:42.330,0:01:45.021 would never be the same again. 0:01:45.031,0:01:47.231 [Eerie music] 0:01:47.231,0:01:50.060 [Sgt. Linley] The house was[br]completely dark. 0:01:50.060,0:01:52.610 All the blinds were drawn. 0:01:52.610,0:01:54.515 There were no toys. 0:01:54.515,0:01:55.999 No clothes. 0:01:55.999,0:01:57.861 Nothing that would ever[br]indicate to you 0:01:57.861,0:02:00.347 that a child of any age[br]lived there. 0:02:00.347,0:02:04.590 [Eerie music. Passing cars whoosh.] 0:02:04.590,0:02:06.979 The child's bedroom was 0:02:06.979,0:02:10.610 back in this corner. 0:02:10.610,0:02:12.609 That was the bedroom. 0:02:12.609,0:02:14.690 The, uh, windows were covered 0:02:14.690,0:02:17.120 to about 3 inches from the top, 0:02:17.120,0:02:18.798 which was the only natural light 0:02:18.798,0:02:20.181 that had ever come in there, 0:02:20.181,0:02:21.652 in all the time the child was 0:02:21.652,0:02:23.101 in the bedroom. 0:02:23.101,0:02:24.831 The entire furnishing to the bedroom 0:02:24.831,0:02:26.240 consisted of a cage, 0:02:26.240,0:02:29.979 with a, uh, pull-down chicken wire lid, 0:02:29.979,0:02:33.466 and some type of -- piece of wire, 0:02:33.466,0:02:35.660 securing it, when they closed it down. 0:02:35.660,0:02:37.861 There was a potty chair, 0:02:37.861,0:02:40.463 with some kind of homemade[br]strapping device. 0:02:41.033,0:02:42.605 [Narrator] For thirteen years, 0:02:42.605,0:02:43.970 Genie had spent her nights 0:02:43.970,0:02:45.932 locked in bed, 0:02:45.932,0:02:49.130 her days strapped [br]to a potty chair. 0:02:49.130,0:02:50.231 During that time, 0:02:50.231,0:02:51.771 Clark had ordered his son John, 0:02:51.771,0:02:52.941 and wife Irene, 0:02:52.941,0:02:55.679 never to talk to her. 0:02:55.679,0:02:57.460 In her darkened room, 0:02:57.460,0:02:58.668 she had led a life 0:02:58.668,0:03:00.659 or near total isolation. 0:03:00.659,0:03:03.743 [Eerie music] 0:03:03.743,0:03:04.762 Even close neighbors 0:03:04.762,0:03:05.987 were completely unaware 0:03:05.987,0:03:07.812 of her presence. 0:03:07.812,0:03:09.618 [Neighbor] I came home from work, 0:03:09.618,0:03:10.782 and the police was here, 0:03:10.782,0:03:12.260 and they came to question us. 0:03:12.260,0:03:13.407 That's when we found -- 0:03:13.407,0:03:14.618 found out, you know, 0:03:14.618,0:03:16.168 what happened, and [br]uh, you know, 0:03:16.168,0:03:17.750 that they had a little girl. 0:03:17.750,0:03:20.918 Nobody knew. Nobody knew before. 0:03:20.918,0:03:23.041 And, uh, then we found out 0:03:23.041,0:03:24.770 what happened, how she was treated. 0:03:24.770,0:03:27.031 I mean, everybody was shocked, 0:03:27.031,0:03:29.421 and, just -- unbelievable. 0:03:29.421,0:03:31.350 [Narrator] For their whole marriage, 0:03:31.350,0:03:34.480 Clark had imposed his will on Irene. 0:03:34.480,0:03:35.915 Blind with cataracts, 0:03:35.915,0:03:38.184 she had been too scared to resist. 0:03:38.184,0:03:40.485 But one day, something broke. 0:03:40.485,0:03:42.570 While Clark was out buying groceries, 0:03:42.570,0:03:44.711 she seized her chance, and fled. 0:03:44.711,0:03:46.489 It was the first glimpse[br]the world would have 0:03:46.489,0:03:48.814 of Clark and Irene's dark secret. 0:03:49.084,0:03:50.762 [Sgt. Linley] I met Clark and Irene 0:03:50.762,0:03:52.611 at Temple City sheriff station, 0:03:52.611,0:03:54.960 and they were both [br]under arrest, at the time. 0:03:54.960,0:03:56.598 When we interviewed Irene, 0:03:56.598,0:03:58.123 she would make no mention 0:03:58.123,0:03:59.676 of the family, whatsoever; 0:03:59.676,0:04:01.415 particularly, the children. 0:04:01.415,0:04:03.690 I attempted, along with my partner, 0:04:03.690,0:04:05.061 to interview Clark. 0:04:05.061,0:04:06.511 He refused to talk to us. 0:04:06.511,0:04:07.671 He wouldn't say a word. 0:04:07.671,0:04:08.921 He never even acknowledged 0:04:08.921,0:04:10.277 that he understood[br]what we were talking about. 0:04:10.277,0:04:11.180 [Reporter] Mr. Wiley? 0:04:11.180,0:04:12.019 [Clark] Yes ma'am. 0:04:12.019,0:04:13.531 Why did you keep your daughter 0:04:13.531,0:04:14.279 in a room -- 0:04:14.279,0:04:15.934 [Lawyer] Mr. Wiley has no comment. 0:04:15.934,0:04:16.890 [Clark] No comment. 0:04:16.900,0:04:18.969 [Lawyer] We haven't had time to discuss[br]the charges. 0:04:18.969,0:04:20.219 We haven't even seen them. 0:04:20.229,0:04:22.228 [Narrator] Unable to face the truth, 0:04:22.228,0:04:24.961 Clark took matters into his own hands. 0:04:24.961,0:04:26.991 [Eerie music] 0:04:26.991,0:04:28.458 [News announcer] This morning, 0:04:28.458,0:04:29.741 the authorities reported 0:04:29.741,0:04:31.480 that 70 year old Clark Wiley 0:04:31.480,0:04:32.640 shot and killed himself, 0:04:32.640,0:04:34.279 just before he was to go to court 0:04:34.279,0:04:35.089 and be arraigned 0:04:35.089,0:04:36.422 for child abuse. 0:04:36.832,0:04:39.130 [Narrator] After 13 years, 0:04:39.130,0:04:41.271 Genie was, at last, free. 0:04:41.271,0:04:43.682 For scientists, she was just the case 0:04:43.682,0:04:45.961 they had been waiting for. 0:04:46.621,0:04:49.178 For 13 years, 0:04:49.178,0:04:50.761 Genie had lived a life 0:04:50.761,0:04:52.989 of complete isolation. 0:04:52.989,0:04:55.030 Raised in a city bedroom, 0:04:55.030,0:04:57.222 Genie was as much a feral child 0:04:57.222,0:04:58.210 as if she had been 0:04:58.210,0:05:00.340 brought up by wolves. 0:05:00.340,0:05:02.360 At 13, she was the size 0:05:02.360,0:05:04.161 of a six year old. 0:05:04.161,0:05:05.291 Worst of all, 0:05:05.291,0:05:07.203 she had never been taught to speak. 0:05:07.203,0:05:08.415 The question now: 0:05:08.415,0:05:11.020 Could she ever learn? 0:05:12.430,0:05:14.663 [Traffic softly whooshes.] 0:05:14.663,0:05:17.417 Genie's case was so [br]scientifically important, 0:05:17.417,0:05:19.900 that the government funded[br]a team of scientists 0:05:19.900,0:05:22.205 to help answer the many questions[br]she posed. 0:05:22.425,0:05:23.799 [Clomps up the steps.] 0:05:23.799,0:05:26.630 [Narrator] Two of the scientists 0:05:26.630,0:05:29.220 who would become especially important[br]to Genie 0:05:29.220,0:05:31.621 were child psychologist James Kent, 0:05:31.621,0:05:33.369 and linguist Susan Curtiss. 0:05:33.369,0:05:35.570 [Susan] So good to see you. 0:05:35.570,0:05:37.590 [Narrator] Neither had ever 0:05:37.590,0:05:38.721 encountered a case 0:05:38.721,0:05:40.916 as extreme as Genie's. 0:05:41.936,0:05:45.666 [Eerie music] 0:05:45.666,0:05:47.510 [James Kent] We looked at her 0:05:47.510,0:05:50.309 as a newborn, in a way, 0:05:50.309,0:05:51.841 even though we know she hadn't. 0:05:51.841,0:05:53.184 She came with 13 years 0:05:53.184,0:05:54.899 of memories and experiences, 0:05:54.899,0:05:56.202 not all of them wonderful. 0:05:56.202,0:05:57.780 Most of them not, I think. 0:05:57.780,0:05:59.290 And so, we thought we needed 0:05:59.290,0:06:00.950 to start to expose her 0:06:00.950,0:06:02.712 to what the world was going to 0:06:02.712,0:06:03.770 be like for her, 0:06:03.770,0:06:05.121 outside the hospital bed. 0:06:05.511,0:06:06.661 [Narrator] To Genie, 0:06:06.661,0:06:08.991 everything was a new experience. 0:06:08.991,0:06:11.321 [James Kent] We did what you would do 0:06:11.321,0:06:13.031 with your own kids, 0:06:13.031,0:06:15.000 if you were introducing them[br]to the world. 0:06:15.000,0:06:15.739 Take them out, 0:06:15.739,0:06:17.613 hold them up, and show them. [Chuckles] 0:06:17.613,0:06:19.401 Sort of judge, from how they reacted, 0:06:19.401,0:06:20.780 whether this was too much, 0:06:20.780,0:06:21.549 or not enough. 0:06:21.549,0:06:22.661 And you could move on, 0:06:22.661,0:06:23.768 and do the next thing. 0:06:23.768,0:06:25.196 [Narrator] Genie was making 0:06:25.196,0:06:26.142 amazing progress. 0:06:26.142,0:06:27.720 As the experts looked on, 0:06:27.720,0:06:29.892 they realized that she might[br]be the answer 0:06:29.892,0:06:30.966 to the question that 0:06:30.966,0:06:33.340 had troubled science for so long. 0:06:33.740,0:06:35.361 [Susan Curtiss] So, we 0:06:35.361,0:06:37.426 seized this wonderful opportunity 0:06:37.426,0:06:39.020 that she provided us, 0:06:39.020,0:06:41.111 in as loving a way as we could, 0:06:41.111,0:06:44.571 but, using it to... 0:06:44.571,0:06:46.940 finally get our chance to 0:06:46.940,0:06:48.449 address, head on, 0:06:48.449,0:06:50.288 specific hypotheses, 0:06:50.288,0:06:51.244 and notions about 0:06:51.244,0:06:52.336 human language, 0:06:52.336,0:06:53.679 and the human mind. 0:06:54.249,0:06:56.411 [Narrator] These hypotheses 0:06:56.411,0:06:58.361 were based on the latest ideas 0:06:58.361,0:07:01.050 about how children's brains developed. 0:07:01.050,0:07:02.435 According to the theory, 0:07:02.435,0:07:03.300 young children 0:07:03.300,0:07:04.790 could only learn certain things 0:07:04.790,0:07:06.174 at certain times, 0:07:06.174,0:07:08.152 called 'critical periods.' 0:07:08.152,0:07:09.655 Language was one of these 0:07:09.665,0:07:11.081 'critical periods.' 0:07:11.081,0:07:12.412 According to the theory, 0:07:12.412,0:07:14.401 Genie, who was now a teenager, 0:07:14.401,0:07:16.941 had missed her chance forever. 0:07:16.941,0:07:19.543 But, incredibly, 0:07:19.543,0:07:20.678 Genie seemed to be 0:07:20.678,0:07:22.451 proving the theory wrong. 0:07:22.451,0:07:23.847 As this footage shows, 0:07:23.847,0:07:25.255 Genie was blossoming. 0:07:25.255,0:07:26.660 Not only was she delighted 0:07:26.660,0:07:28.131 by the world around her, 0:07:28.131,0:07:29.380 but she was learning the words 0:07:29.380,0:07:31.533 for the new things she was seeing. 0:07:31.533,0:07:37.011 [Susan Curtiss] She was extremely 0:07:37.011,0:07:39.340 interested in everything around her. 0:07:39.340,0:07:40.850 She wanted to know the word 0:07:40.850,0:07:42.060 for everything around her. 0:07:42.060,0:07:44.127 She wanted to engage people 0:07:44.127,0:07:45.490 all around her. 0:07:45.490,0:07:47.310 She was not mentally deficient. 0:07:47.310,0:07:48.400 Her lights were on, 0:07:48.400,0:07:50.009 and everyone who worked with her, 0:07:50.009,0:07:53.110 from teachers, to therapists, 0:07:53.110,0:07:54.949 to me, knew 0:07:54.949,0:07:56.680 that she was not retarded. 0:07:56.680,0:07:58.520 It was clear as day. 0:07:58.520,0:08:01.771 And, as she began to learn 0:08:01.771,0:08:02.949 more and more words, 0:08:02.949,0:08:04.090 hundreds of words, 0:08:04.090,0:08:05.109 much more rapidly 0:08:05.109,0:08:07.149 than they ever imagined, 0:08:07.149,0:08:09.079 and stringing them together, 0:08:09.079,0:08:10.916 I began to think that maybe 0:08:10.916,0:08:12.415 I will be wrong. 0:08:12.415,0:08:13.791 Maybe she will be the one 0:08:13.791,0:08:15.269 who will prove 0:08:15.269,0:08:18.200 that this hypothesis is incorrect. 0:08:18.200,0:08:19.929 [Narrator] But Genie could not escape 0:08:19.929,0:08:22.109 the effects of her past so easily. 0:08:22.109,0:08:23.359 She was still haunted 0:08:23.359,0:08:25.420 by her traumatic upbringing, 0:08:25.420,0:08:26.561 trapped by the memories 0:08:26.561,0:08:28.801 of the awful fate she had suffered. 0:08:28.801,0:08:32.251 Linguistically, she had stopped[br]making progress. 0:08:32.251,0:08:33.843 [Susan Curtiss] She learned tons of words. 0:08:33.843,0:08:35.799 She has an enormous vocabulary. 0:08:35.799,0:08:37.490 But language is not words. 0:08:37.490,0:08:39.737 Language is grammar. 0:08:39.737,0:08:42.497 Language is sentences. 0:08:42.497,0:08:44.191 How do you make a sentence? 0:08:44.191,0:08:45.819 What can be a sentence? 0:08:45.819,0:08:47.060 What is a sentence? 0:08:47.060,0:08:48.250 How do you automatically know 0:08:48.250,0:08:49.999 something is a sentence? 0:08:49.999,0:08:54.058 So, it wasn't because she was[br]cognitively deficient, 0:08:54.058,0:08:55.841 in other respects. 0:08:55.841,0:08:59.215 It was because she was[br]cognitively deficient 0:08:59.215,0:09:02.691 in this island of human mind, 0:09:02.691,0:09:05.242 the mental faculty that we call[br]'grammar.' 0:09:05.242,0:09:06.930 [Narrator] At the time[br]Genie was found, 0:09:06.930,0:09:09.079 brain science was in its infancy. 0:09:09.079,0:09:11.030 Today, we have a much clearer picture 0:09:11.030,0:09:12.469 of what actually happens 0:09:12.469,0:09:16.820 in cases of extreme neglect,[br]like Genie's. 0:09:16.820,0:09:17.882 [Dr. Bruce Perry] In Genie's brain, 0:09:17.882,0:09:20.990 the left part of her brain, her cortex, 0:09:20.990,0:09:23.289 that has those neural systems 0:09:23.289,0:09:25.621 responsible for speech and language, 0:09:25.621,0:09:27.548 because she never heard any words, 0:09:27.548,0:09:29.610 and because she was never talked -- 0:09:29.610,0:09:31.736 spoken to very often, 0:09:31.736,0:09:33.369 they didn't get stimulated. 0:09:33.369,0:09:34.959 And, because they weren't stimulated, 0:09:34.959,0:09:38.875 they got smaller, and less functional, 0:09:38.875,0:09:41.257 and got disconnected, and ultimately, 0:09:41.257,0:09:44.618 that part of the brain literally,[br]physically changes. 0:09:44.618,0:09:45.558 [Narrator] Today, 0:09:45.558,0:09:47.431 with modern imaging technology, 0:09:47.431,0:09:49.278 we can actually see what happens 0:09:49.278,0:09:51.588 in the brains of feral children. 0:09:51.588,0:09:54.029 The effects are shocking. 0:09:54.029,0:09:56.116 Without normal stimulation, 0:09:56.116,0:09:58.730 their brains are smaller, and malformed. 0:09:58.730,0:10:00.748 The earlier this neglect begins, 0:10:00.748,0:10:02.590 and the longer it carries on, 0:10:02.590,0:10:04.966 the worse the damage will be. 0:10:04.966,0:10:06.500 Starved of stimulation, 0:10:06.500,0:10:07.990 Genie's brain had simply 0:10:07.990,0:10:10.540 not developed the capacity[br]for language. 0:10:10.540,0:10:12.349 And, now that she was [br]a teenager, 0:10:12.349,0:10:14.771 she would never be able to learn. 0:10:14.771,0:10:15.912 Despite this, 0:10:15.912,0:10:17.471 Genie continued to be a close part 0:10:17.471,0:10:19.030 of everyone's life. 0:10:19.030,0:10:24.709 But, there was more trouble ahead. 0:10:24.709,0:10:25.468 [James Kent] Children have to 0:10:25.468,0:10:26.801 belong to somebody when they grow up, 0:10:26.801,0:10:28.120 and she was still a child, 0:10:28.120,0:10:30.021 and she needed a family to belong to. 0:10:30.021,0:10:31.511 So, that's what we would've liked. 0:10:31.511,0:10:33.789 A family that she could belong to. 0:10:33.789,0:10:38.008 And, that's not what happened,[br]unfortunately. 0:10:38.008,0:10:39.067 What did happen 0:10:39.067,0:10:40.739 um, is about, I think, 0:10:40.739,0:10:43.751 the worst outcome[br]we would've envisioned. 0:10:43.751,0:10:45.709 On her 18th birthday, 0:10:45.709,0:10:47.809 Genie moved back [br]with her mother Irene, 0:10:47.809,0:10:49.149 into the house in which 0:10:49.149,0:10:51.441 she had been so terribly abused. 0:10:51.441,0:10:52.832 But after only a few weeks, 0:10:52.832,0:10:55.450 it was clear that Irene couldn't cope. 0:10:55.450,0:10:58.070 From here, Genie was moved[br]into state care, 0:10:58.070,0:11:01.179 with terrible consequences. 0:11:01.179,0:11:03.444 [Susan Curtiss] I was a student, 0:11:03.444,0:11:05.067 and people wouldn't listen to me. 0:11:05.067,0:11:06.830 People who needed to intervene 0:11:06.830,0:11:08.467 did not listen to me. 0:11:08.467,0:11:10.933 And, so, I spent lots and lots of time 0:11:10.933,0:11:13.258 on the phone, pleading with people 0:11:13.258,0:11:15.328 to intervene, and save this person 0:11:15.328,0:11:19.720 who had had the worst experience[br]of deprivation, 0:11:19.720,0:11:23.423 and isolation, in all recorded[br]medical history. 0:11:23.423,0:11:24.291 [Narrator] Genie moved 0:11:24.291,0:11:25.542 from home to home, 0:11:25.542,0:11:26.851 sometimes with the very people 0:11:26.851,0:11:28.930 who served as her therapists. 0:11:28.930,0:11:31.218 This potential conflict of interests 0:11:31.218,0:11:33.111 raised tensions among the many people 0:11:33.111,0:11:34.929 involved in her life. 0:11:34.929,0:11:37.969 A tug of war erupted over the child. 0:11:37.969,0:11:40.177 As Genie's condition deteriorated, 0:11:40.177,0:11:42.027 Irene decided that Susan Curtiss 0:11:42.027,0:11:45.339 and the other academics had become[br]too close to Genie. 0:11:45.339,0:11:47.971 A lawsuit followed. 0:11:47.971,0:11:51.210 [Susan Curtiss] I went from being asked 0:11:51.210,0:11:52.637 to be her guardian, 0:11:52.637,0:11:54.178 to, one week later, 0:11:54.178,0:11:56.120 being prevented from seeing her, 0:11:56.120,0:11:57.330 or phoning her. 0:11:57.330,0:11:58.849 Ever since then, I've been prevented 0:11:58.849,0:12:01.218 from having any contact, at all. 0:12:01.218,0:12:03.469 So, although I have lots of, 0:12:03.469,0:12:05.709 you know, I'm still a scientist, 0:12:05.709,0:12:07.729 I'm still interested in knowing things 0:12:07.729,0:12:09.940 about her language now, and 0:12:09.940,0:12:12.094 all kinds of interesting things 0:12:12.094,0:12:14.159 I would like to pursue academically, 0:12:14.159,0:12:17.779 primarily I would just like to see her. 0:12:17.779,0:12:19.709 [Narrator] Now a ward of the court, 0:12:19.709,0:12:21.700 Genie lives in an adult care home 0:12:21.700,0:12:23.432 somewhere in Los Angeles, 0:12:23.432,0:12:24.930 prevented from seeing the people 0:12:24.930,0:12:26.842 who once meant so much to her.