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tv   Nightline  ABC  May 15, 2015 12:37am-1:08am PDT

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madonna, and allegedly said he could help her. but then she says he sexually assaulted her. >> he told me to get in the back seat. >> why did you do it? >> she said she kept quiet about it for years until now. tonight, the woman who says she's on a quest for justice. and we're deviling into the mind of a genius. what is it like to suddenly see sounds? hear colors? and view the world through mathematical equations? first the night line 5.
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good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin with one woman who says she is finally coming forward after years of silence. it began when she says a renowned coach sexually assaulting her when she was just 13 years old of for a long time she didn't tell a soul.
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too terrified to confide in her parents. but then she turn to police who then help her secretly record conversations with her alleged attacker. >> who is there? >> they're coming out. >> the man being escorted away by cops is accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl. his name? cameron thor. >> look at that creepy -- >> the voice of the woman on the tape his alleged teenage victim and her father. videotaping from across the street. >> what a creepy piece of -- >> the suspect played big parts in hollywood blockbusters like "jurassic park." he's also known around hollywood as a high profile acting coach. now he is under arrest on 13 counts including kidnapping lewd acts on a child and sexual penetration. he has pled not guilty to all charges. it was here six years ago that
quote
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jordan says her entire life changed. this beautiful remote canyon is where she says thor sexually assaulted her when she was in the eighth grade. >> it doesn't change. it will never go away. this is always going to be where he raped me. >> now 19 it took years for her to record it to police and then follow the sting operations to get thor arrested. the case is going to trial and jordan will soon have to take the stand. jordan. it all started when she was 12, about to turn 13. her parents fell on hard times. >> it was hard. i knew we had no money. my dad would walk two miles to bring as you lunch at school every day because he would have to find money for that day to get us lunch. >> on top of that her mother patty was a struggling alcoholic. >> did you feel vulnerable at that point? >> very much so. >> in what way? >> my parents, they fought a lot. it was kind of just me and josh and we wanted to make sure my mom was okay we wanted to make sure my dad was okay. it was a really scary time for us.
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>> patty started going to aa meetings health at this local bank. jordan tagged along for support and that's where patty and jordan say they met thor for the first time. a flashy hollywood coach who claim on his now defunct website to have coached madonna. >> what did you think of him? >> he is very well spoken and he comes across very charismatic. >> jordan said he enticed her by saying she could earn money as an actress, getting free lessons and something more attractive. >> he told me he would buy my braces. i had a really bad gap in my two front teeth and the one was to the side and kids were really mean to me about it. >> at the time you fell your family couldn't afford it. >> it's not what i felt. they actually couldn't. >> thor never followed one that alleged promise. >> was there ever a time when you were suspicious of his motives? >> no, no i thought he like her and she was a great kid. >> instead of going to a studio
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she said thor insisted they went to his home. >> he told me he needed me to make a collage of pictures of me. he was really touchy. like every time he had a conversation with me it was a hand on my shoulder my leg, stuff like that. >> what else did he say? >> he will me i make him hard. >> did you know what he was talking about? >> i really didn't know what he was talking about. >> jordan said the lessons continued. >> the third time we went to his house, he locked the door and he was even creepier. way more touchy. like weird and before i left, he said i had to give him a hug. he pressed his penal it is up against me and whispered, you make me so hard. >> what was your reaction? >> i was freaked out. i didn't want to tell my parents. i assumed they thought it was my fault snfrl why not say i didn't want to do this. >> i didn't want to tell my
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parents. >> she said thor pick her up from her house and took her here to this park. >> this is where he talked about really inappropriate things and asked me questions like if i had ever given head before. and i had had sex and i answered no. >> she said he then asked her to ask her mom if she could go to a drive to malibu. >> so you text your mom and asked permission. was she gung-ho? >> no. not at all. she was really hesitant. >> jordan said her mom relenltd. but instead of going toward malboork he turn toward mulholland and parked the car. >> then he pulled out a vial of marijuana. he had rolled up the windows and had taken my cell phone. >> then what happened? >> he said me to get in the back seat. so did i. >> why? >> i was terrified. >> she said the road was quiet. she didn't see a single car go by. >> there was a mountain on this side and a cliff on this side. there's no where for me to go. >> no escape.
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>> he got on top of me and was kissing me. and he took that scarf on that i had off and he was leaning on me grabbing me putting his hands on my shirt. he undid my pants and put his fingers in my pants. >> when she got quiet, she kept quiet about what had allegedly occurred at the canyon. >> he will me nobody would believe me. if i told my parents, my mom would start drinking again. >> jordan the eighth grader said she believed the adult. she saw him once more after that but then quit the lessons. she said they went from being a straight a student to a b and lower. a few months later she finally confided in her cousin. >> i had heard that something inappropriate had happened to her and that is how she brought up her experience. immediately i was like wait, what did you just say? and then she got kind of scared and realized that i was reacting. i didn't tell anybody. >> then what happened?
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>> finally i was like what do i do here? so that's when i called my uncle. >> she said do you remember when jordan was that taking those acting lessons? and i was like i think so. she said something to the effect well something very bad happened during those acting lessons. she said i think he did something very bad to jordan. >> jordan's parents got her therapy. she was adamant she didn't want to go to police. her parents respected her wishes. her silence lasted four years until she says she finally boring up the courage to go to the authorities and agreed to be part of an attempted sting operation designed to get thor to incriminate himself. >> they had me text message him and send him a general, do you remember me type text. and he responded, oh my god. i miss you. i can't believe you contacted me. of course i remember you. >> eventually detectives got her to arrange for a meeting with thor at the starbucks inside this barnes and noble. detectives bugged the table with a recording device and she said
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she thinks she heard an admission from thor. but the authorities didn't think they had enough evidence. while she spoke to him on the phone, detectives secretly the taped the conversation. >> they were having me ask him things and trying to get him to admit to it. >> shortly there after, that arrest. jordan was utterly relieved. >> they got him! >> you did it! >> he was eventually released on bail and placed under house arrest. forced to wear an ankle bracelet. in a statement to abc news james blatt states they feel it is important that this case be decided in a courtroom, not in a television program. that at this time there is a continuing intensive investigation by the d.a. and the defense to determine the truth concerning these allegations. we were confident that after the investigations are completed, mr. thor will be exonerated. jordan is just beginning to
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speak out. sharing her story with the hollywood reporter and jordan says navigating the criminal justice system has been a horrifying ordeal. >> what is it like seeing him in the courtroom in the preliminary hearing? having him sit across the courtroom from you? >> the nastiest grossest feeling. i never want to be anywhere near that person ever in my life. >> i have a vision that comes to me more than i care to admit of me standing up in the court, walking into the witness stand, grabbing her hand and going home. and you know that's challenging. very challenging. >> no matter the outcome, she feels she's done the right thing by pursuing charges against him. >> it is by far the hardest thing i've ever done in my entire life. and i would never tell somebody it is easy. i would tell them it will be the most challenging thing you've ever had to do but it's worth it. you have to do it. you have to do it for yourself. you have to go from being a victim to a survivor. >> have you ever spilled a secret hoping to help someone
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else? head to our "nightline" facebook page and tell us about it. what is it like to become brilliant practically overnight? the story of an accidental genius. severe rheumatoid arthritis like me and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira giving me new perspective. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers including lymphoma have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores.
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you're about to meet a woman who is truly one of a kind. that is because a near deadly accident turn her otherwise ordinary mind into an extraordinary one. abc's reporter tells us what it is like to have your senses scrambled in a nearly super human brain. >> probabilities and what are disabilities? >> leigh erceg is unlike anyone
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you'll probably ever meet. so buckle up for a ride like none other into the mind of an accidental genius. >> you have a linear line with what is. in some theories. >> she is also an artist. >> what is the deepest? >> and a poet. >> within my memories i walk to the fourth of my mine. still i see nothing. >> the way she sees the world is unlike anything you can imagine. and it all happened because of an accident making her the only known woman in the world with something called acquired savant syndrome. scribbled as vastly enhanced cognitive ability in areas such as art and math and acquired savant syndrome is when you're not born with it like leaving. >> we're at split rock ranch. >> it was on this ranch in colorado, a place she no longer remembers, where her life changed forever. in 2009 leigh the ranch manage here could care less about
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formulas was feeding chickens. >> where was it? >> down there. >> she fell into the ravine suffering catastrophic spine and brain injuries. >> i don't know what type of fall it was but it must have been pretty traumatic. >> do you remember being here at all? >> no not at all. i remember them saying leigh, keep breathing. >> you do remember. >> i remember it was a sheriff. and he said leigh, keep breathing. >> doctors were unsure she would ever walk again. after treating her initial brain trauma she seemed to be making a full recovery and no one noticed it was actually her brain that suffered the most severe damage. but in a very unique way. leigh had no memory of her old life when she was a multisport athlete who loved animals, not math or art. her childhood gone. her mother a total stranger. leigh relies on her best friend since fifth grade, amber. >> you guys are really close. >> to help her understand who she used to be. >> jackie is my mother.
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>> were you guys close? >> i don't know. >> she was initially misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder in part because she lost the ability to feel emotion. what doctors describe as flat effect. >> leigh was a total extro vert. it is not a bad different. just who she is now. >> in addition to her savant syndrome, she also acquired since thesa. >> if i turn on your music you're seeing colors. if i ask you to look at nature you said you're hearing or seeing sound. so you hear images and you see sound. >> right. >> that's hard to fathom. i'm going to turn it up. and then i want to know what colors you hear. are you ready? >> okay.
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♪ >> black, blue orange and then a yellow. >> black, blue orange and then a yellow. >> yeah. >> now she has a home filled with mathematical equations and art. her interpretations of how she sees the world. >> what's running through your mine? >> the dimensions of the house. >> the dimensions of this house? >> yes. this is what it represents. the occupancy of a linear line circulations. >> help me understand that. >> you see things differently than we do. >> yes. >> i see just sort of a plain room with a couple of windows. some stairs. >> stairs are concept theories divine. >> the strange new talents has left her lonely at times and desperate to understand what has happened to her. if what she is seeing in her mine is real. along with her childhood friend
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amber, she made the journey to the university of miami where neuroscientist britt brogaard rigorously tested her brain. >> you want some objective evidence that what she is experiencing was real. >> after the first test it started to become clear how differently she sees the world. details are everything. check this out. can you see a difference between these two images? >> yep. >> leigh can do it in a snap. >> we started to understand why she draws things the way she does. if you ask most people to draw a house or a car, they'll start with the outline and then fill in the details like the windows, doors and wheels. but leigh, she starts with those details, the windows, the doors, the wheels and then builds out. >> so that's an example of how she is attending to details before she said is attending to the whole. >> remember how lee said she
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hears colors and sees sounds? the doctor says that's real too. >> about half of the letters of the alphabet and half of the numbers, she has specific colors associated with them. >> it is kind of a heavy question. do you think the person you were is the person you were supposed to be or is the person you are now really who you are? >> i don't know. i can't remember or i don't remember the last person. >> but leigh has embraced her new identity and her new view of the world as colors and number a beautiful mind she is just beginning to understand. "nightline" in mabel, colorado. >> a beautiful mind indeed. we'll be right back.
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okay. so as the mother of three boys i am no stranger to testosterone fueled one ups manship when it come to sports. i had no idea when i went to texas to head to the phenoms. the colossal stunts they pull off in their super viral videos seemed beyond the reach of mere mortals. but it turns out i have some skills. and this is the no look shot. are you supposed to grow out of this? is this something you mature out of? >> i think trick shots are forever. >> swish. i will get this.
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all right. >> that's the first time i've ever seen that done. i had no idea you would be able to do that. >> i will you. i got game. that's tomorrow night on "nightline." thanks for watching abc news. as always we are online 24/7 at our "nightline" facebook page and at abcnews.com. good night, america. see you tomorrow.
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