About this episode

The episode explores the tragic story of Susan Wiley, known as 'Genie', who was rescued from severe child deprivation only to face further exploitation by researchers.

In 1970, a nearly blind mother walked into a California social services office, unwittingly exposing one of the most horrific cases of child deprivation in human history. Thirteen-year-old Susan Wiley—known to the world as 'Genie'—had spent her entire life strapped to a chair inside a room just ten feet wide. But her rescue was only the beginning of a darker chapter. As brilliant minds from UCLA and the government rushed to use her as a human experiment to unlock the secrets of language, a toxic battle for funding and scientific prestige began. Dive into the heartbreaking reality of a child who was rescued from the cage of her abusive father, only to be failed by the very system that claimed to save her Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/criminal--6152643/support . This episode includes AI-generated content.

More episodes of Criminal

• The Jinkid Case: From Viral Comedian to Double Killer · July 21, 2026 · 47 min
• Inside Two Chilling Murder Cases That Shocked America · July 19, 2026 · 39 min
• The Marine, The Affair, and The Murder of Erin Corwin · July 18, 2026 · 32 min
• The 2-Year Silence: The Tragic Secret of Erica Parsons · July 11, 2026 · 35 min
• A Wife's Revenge Exposed Her Husband's Darkest Secrets · July 9, 2026 · 33 min
• He Confessed After a Polygraph Bluff: The Rebecca Gould Case · July 5, 2026 · 32 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Criminal podcast page.