WEBVTT

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[News anchor] Officials in the 


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Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia

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have taken custody of a 13 year old girl,

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who they say, was kept in such isolation
by her parents,

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that she never even learned to talk.

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The girl still wore diapers,

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and was uttering infantile noises,

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when a social worker discovered the case

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two weeks ago.

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The authorities are hoping

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she still may have a normal
learning capacity.

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Among the first to see the child

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was Temple City detective,

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Sergeant Frank Linley.

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[Eerie music]

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[Sgt. Linley] I already knew that

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the child was 13 1/2 years old,

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and I took one look at her,

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and she wasn't much bigger

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than my daughter, Beverly,

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who had just turned seven
about 3 months earlier.

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And, I really had a hard time

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conceiving of the idea that the child

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was the age that she was.

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The child, uh, obviously,

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had been severely mistreated.

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She was still in diapers, couldn't walk,

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she had no verbal skills at all,
at that point.

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[Eerie music]

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The last time I was on this street

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was probably 30 years ago.

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Yep, there it is.

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Hasn't changed much.

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The back yard looks the same.

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It's all weeds and dead grass.

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Looks the same as it did in 1970.

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[Narrator] The house belonged
to Clark Wiley.

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A loner, Clark had turned his

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back on the world,

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after his mother had been killed

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in a hit and run accident.

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After the accident,

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things in the Wiley house

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would never be the same again.

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[Sgt. Linley] The house was
completely dark.

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All the blinds were drawn.

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There were no toys.

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No clothes.

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Nothing that would ever
indicate to you

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that a child of any age
lived there.

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[Eerie music. Passing cars whoosh.]

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The child's bedroom was

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back in this corner.

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That was the bedroom.

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The, uh, windows were covered

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to about 3 inches from the top,

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which was the only natural light

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that had ever come in there,

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in all the time the child was

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in the bedroom.

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The entire furnishing to the bedroom

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consisted of a cage,

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with a, uh, pull-down chicken wire lid,

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and some type of -- piece of wire,

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securing it, when they closed it down.

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There was a potty chair,

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with some kind of homemade
strapping device.

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[Narrator] For thirteen years,

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Genie had spent her nights

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locked in bed,

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her days strapped 
to a potty chair.

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During that time,

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Clark had ordered his son John,

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and wife Irene,

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never to talk to her.

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In her darkened room,

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she had led a life

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or near total isolation.

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[Eerie music]

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Even close neighbors

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were completely unaware

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of her presence.

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[Neighbor] I came home from work,

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and the police was here,

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and they came to question us.

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That's when we found --

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found out what, you know,

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happened, and uh, you know,

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that they had a little girl.

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Nobody knew. Nobody knew before.

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And, uh, then we found out

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what happened, how she was treated.

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I mean, everybody was shocked,

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and, just -- unbelievable.

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For their whole marriage,

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Clark had imposed his will on Irene.

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Blind with cataracts,

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she had been too scared to resist.

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But one day, something broke.

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While Clark was out buying groceries,

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she seized her chance, and fled.

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It was the first glimpse
the world would have

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of Clark and Irene's dark secret.

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[Sgt. Linley] I met Clark and Irene

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at Temple City sheriff station,

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and they were both 
under arrest, at the time.

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When we interviewed Irene,

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she would make no mention

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of the family, whatsoever;

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particularly, the children.

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I attempted, along with my partner,

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to interview Clark.

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He refused to talk to us.

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He wouldn't say a word.

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He never even acknowledged

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that he understood
what we were talking about.

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[Reporter] Mr. Wiley?

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[Clark] Yes ma'am.

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Why did you keep your daughter

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in a room --

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[Lawyer] Mr. Wiley has no comment.

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[Clark] No comment.

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[Lawyer] We haven't had time to discuss
the charges.

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We haven't even seen them.

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[Narrator] Unable to face the truth,

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Clark took matters into his own hands.

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[Eerie music]

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[News announcer] This morning,

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the authorities reported

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that 70 year old Clark Wiley

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shot and killed himself,

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just before he was to go to court

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and be arraigned

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for child abuse.

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[Narrator] After 13 years,

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Genie was, at last, free.

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For scientists, she was just the case

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they had been waiting for.

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For 13 years,

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Genie had lived a life

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of complete isolation.

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Raised in a city bedroom,

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Genie was as much a feral child

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as if she had been

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brought up by wolves.

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At 13, she was the size

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of a six year old.

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Worst of all,

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she had never been taught to speak.

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The question now:

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Could she ever learn?

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[Traffic softly whooshes.]

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Genie's case was so 
scientifically important,

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the government funded
a team of scientists

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to help answer the many questions
she posed.

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[Clomps up the steps.]

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Two of the scientists

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who would become especially important
to Genie

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were child psychologist James Kent,

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and linguist Susan Curtis.

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[Susan] So good to see you.

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[Narrator] Neither had ever

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encountered a case

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as extreme as Genie's.