WEBVTT

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[News anchor] Officials in the 


99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Los Angeles suburb of Arcadia

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
have taken custody of a 13 year old girl,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who they say, was kept in such isolation
by her parents,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that she never even learned to talk.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The girl still wore diapers,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and was uttering infantile noises,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
when a social worker discovered the case

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
two weeks ago.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The authorities are hoping

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she still may have a normal
learning capacity.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Among the first to see the child

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
was Temple City detective,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Sergeant Frank Linley.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Eerie music]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Sgt. Linley] I already knew that

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the child was 13 1/2 years old,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and I took one look at her,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and she wasn't much bigger

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
than my daughter, Beverly,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who had just turned seven
about 3 months earlier.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And, I really had a hard time

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
conceiving of the idea that the child

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
was the age that she was.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The child, uh, obviously,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
had been severely mistreated.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
She was still in diapers, couldn't walk,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she had no verbal skills at all,
at that point.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Eerie music]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The last time I was on this street

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
was probably 30 years ago.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Yep, there it is.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Hasn't changed much.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The back yard looks the same.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It's all weeds and dead grass.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Looks the same as it did in 1970.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] The house belonged
to Clark Wiley.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
A loner, Clark had turned his

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
back on the world,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
after his mother had been killed

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in a hit and run accident.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
After the accident,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
things in the Wiley house

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
would never be the same again.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Sgt. Linley] The house was
completely dark.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
All the blinds were drawn.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There were no toys.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
No clothes.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Nothing that would ever
indicate to you

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that a child of any age
lived there.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Eerie music. Passing cars whoosh.]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The child's bedroom was

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
back in this corner.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
That was the bedroom.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The, uh, windows were covered

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to about 3 inches from the top,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
which was the only natural light

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that had ever come in there,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in all the time the child was

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in the bedroom.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The entire furnishing to the bedroom

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
consisted of a cage,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with a, uh, pull-down chicken wire lid,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and some type of -- piece of wire,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
securing it, when they closed it down.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
There was a potty chair,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with some kind of homemade
strapping device.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] For thirteen years,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie had spent her nights

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
locked in bed,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
her days strapped 
to a potty chair.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
During that time,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Clark had ordered his son John,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and wife Irene,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
never to talk to her.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
In her darkened room,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she had led a life

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
or near total isolation.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Eerie music]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Even close neighbors

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
were completely unaware

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of her presence.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Neighbor] I came home from work,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and the police was here,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and they came to question us.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
That's when we found --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
found out what, you know,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
happened, and uh, you know,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that they had a little girl.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Nobody knew. Nobody knew before.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And, uh, then we found out

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
what happened, how she was treated.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I mean, everybody was shocked,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and, just -- unbelievable.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
For their whole marriage,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Clark had imposed his will on Irene.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Blind with cataracts,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she had been too scared to resist.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But one day, something broke.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
While Clark was out buying groceries,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she seized her chance, and fled.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
It was the first glimpse
the world would have

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of Clark and Irene's dark secret.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Sgt. Linley] I met Clark and Irene

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
at Temple City sheriff station,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and they were both 
under arrest, at the time.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
When we interviewed Irene,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she would make no mention

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of the family, whatsoever;

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
particularly, the children.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
I attempted, along with my partner,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to interview Clark.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He refused to talk to us.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He wouldn't say a word.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
He never even acknowledged

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that he understood
what we were talking about.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Reporter] Mr. Wiley?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Clark] Yes ma'am.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Why did you keep your daughter

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in a room --

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Lawyer] Mr. Wiley has no comment.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Clark] No comment.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Lawyer] We haven't had time to discuss
the charges.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
We haven't even seen them.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] Unable to face the truth,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Clark took matters into his own hands.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Eerie music]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[News announcer] This morning,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the authorities reported

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that 70 year old Clark Wiley

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
shot and killed himself,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
just before he was to go to court

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and be arraigned

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
for child abuse.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] After 13 years,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie was, at last, free.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
For scientists, she was just the case

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
they had been waiting for.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
For 13 years,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie had lived a life

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of complete isolation.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Raised in a city bedroom,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie was as much a feral child

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as if she had been

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
brought up by wolves.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
At 13, she was the size

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of a six year old.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Worst of all,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
she had never been taught to speak.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
The question now:

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Could she ever learn?

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Traffic softly whooshes.]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie's case was so 
scientifically important,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
the government funded
a team of scientists

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to help answer the many questions
she posed.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Clomps up the steps.]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Two of the scientists

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
who would become especially important
to Genie

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
were child psychologist James Kent,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and linguist Susan Curtiss.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Susan] So good to see you.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] Neither had ever

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
encountered a case

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as extreme as Genie's.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[James Kent] We looked at her

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
as a newborn, in a way,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
even though we know she hadn't.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
She came with 13 years

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
of memories and experiences,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
not all of them wonderful.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Most of them not, I think.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And so, we thought we needed

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to start to expose her

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to what the would was going to

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
be like for her,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
outside the hospital bed.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] To Genie,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
everything was a new experience.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[James Kent] We did what you would do

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
with your own kids,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
if you were introducing them
to the world.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Take them out,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
hold them up, and show them. [Chuckles]

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Sort of judge, from how they reacted,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
whether this was too much,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
or not enough.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
And you could move on,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and do the next thing.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] Genie was making

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
amazing progress.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
As the experts looked on,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
they realized that she might
be the answer

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
to the question that

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
had troubled science for so long.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Susan Curtiss] So, we

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
seized this wonderful opportunity

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
that she provided us,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
in as loving a way as we could,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
but, using it to...

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
finally get our chance to

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
address, head on,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
specific hypotheses,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and notions about

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
human language,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
and the human mind.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
[Narrator] These hypotheses

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
were based on the latest ideas

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
about how children's brains developed.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
According to the theory,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
young children

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
could only learn certain things

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
at certain times,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
called 'critical periods.'

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Language was one of these

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
'critical periods.'

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
According to the theory,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie, who was now a teenager,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
had missed her chance forever.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
But, incredibly,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie seemed to be

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
proving the theory wrong.

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
As this footage shows,

99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999
Genie was blossoming.