For years, Genie Wiley was strapped into a straitjacket and tied to a potty chair by day, and locked in a crib with a metal cage by night. More than 50 years on, her case remains one of the worst child abuse cases in US history.
Genie was 13 when social services intervened in 1970, but she had the mental age of a baby. Her father, Clark Wiley, had imprisoned her in a bedroom because he suspected she was mentally disabled. He kept her on a lead, barked at her, and fed her only liquid food. When discovered, she was mute and hopped like a rabbit.
Clark Wiley, who hated noise and never wanted children, had a history of abuse. His first child died after being left in a cold garage, and a second died from birth complications. After his mother was killed by a drink driver in 1958, his paranoia worsened, and he took it out on his children. From 20 months old, Genie was strapped into a handmade straightjacket and tied to a potty chair in a silent room. He did not speak to her and instructed his wife and son to do the same.
At night, Genie was locked in a cot with a wire cover and fed almost entirely on liquids. Wiley growled and barked at her like a dog, and beat her with a stick if she made a noise. In later years, she described the abuse in broken English: “Father hit arm. Big wood. Genie cry… Father hit face - spit. Father hit big stick.”
Irene Wiley, plagued by poor eyesight, finally fled the house of horrors in 1970. She mistakenly went to the wrong welfare office, where a social worker spotted Genie. Unable to talk, Genie had nearly two sets of fully-formed teeth due to a rare dental condition. She was unsteady on her feet, her limbs jerked, and she held her hands in front of her body like a rabbit. Experts said she demonstrated the most severe case of child abuse on record.
Genie was mute and could not chew, so she held food in her mouth until saliva broke it down. She constantly spat and sniffed, understanding only her own name and the phrases “stop it” and “no more”. Clark Wiley killed himself before he could be jailed. Genie’s whereabouts today remain unknown.
