Arriving at the Piercy family home, Dr. Phil is greeted by Randall's mother, Nancy, and his son, Josh.
He tells Nancy, "If the allegations are true, [Randall and his wife, Michelle are] in a lot of trouble, and they should be. If the allegations are not true, then they need to get out of there, and this family needs to move forward."
Nancy thanks him, and they begin their tour of the home.
Arriving at the room where the 9-year-old boy was allegedly held captive, Dr. Phil says, "So this is the room?"
"Yes, Sir," Josh confirms. "Well, the camera was taken out by the police."
"And they took all of his toys out, because they said there were no toys or anything in here," adds Nancy.
"They went through all his drawers and everything," Josh recounts.
"Yeah," says Josh.
"OK," says Dr. Phil, "and they taped the windows shut." He proceeds to the door to examine a sliding lock installed on the outside.
"Does that look like a deadbolt to you?" asks Nancy.
"Well, what is your point about saying 'Is this a deadbolt or not'? Would that leave the child locked up in the room or not?"
"It would keep him to the point " " Nancy begins.
"That was the whole idea," says Nancy. "Because they found him, 6:00 in the morning, in the middle of the creek. That's why they did that, so they would keep him from drowning."
Dr. Phil says, "The allegation is that he locked this boy in the room for most of the time of three years."
"That's an absolute lie," says Nancy. Dr. Phil asks if she has been in the home, and she replies, "During the three years that they're being accused of, yes, I was staying in this house, most of the time in the room right next door to him. It was two, three months before I moved out that he was locked up at nighttimes."
"But it wasn't during the day?" Dr. Phil probes.
"Most of the time during the day he was outside playing," she says.
Dr. Phil seeks further clarification. "How many days during the week was he locked up in his room?" he asks.
"He wasn't locked up in his room, just at night," she says.
Dr. Phil tells her, "The undercover police officer reports that when he came here at 1:45 in the afternoon he was bolted in."
"That's funny," says Nancy, "because my daughter-in-law, my son's wife, said that he opened the door himself. He was in his room, but it was not locked the day they came. My daughter-in-law wouldn't lie."
"Why would the police lie?" asks Dr. Phil.
"I don't know," she says. "Maybe they thought it was locked. But he opened the door himself."
"Our producers asked Randall specifically, 'What is the reason that the lock is on the door?' and he said, 'His behavior got too much for me to handle, so I put the lock on the door,'" Dr. Phil reveals.
"That's his answer," Nancy says. "But his wife's answer is what I told you."
"I'm getting all these different answers, and that makes me really nervous," says Dr. Phil.
"I'm as confused as you are," says Nancy. "I don't know. Everybody has their own story. I don't know what to think or believe either. I wasn't here. But I know my son better than that. He would not imprison his child."
"But there is a bolt on his door," Dr. Phil reminds her. "When that bolt is thrown, he is in prison."
"I told you why, OK?" she says. "I would much rather a lock be put on my grandson's door than for him to drown in the creek where they found him at 6:00 in the morning trying to get his ball."
Josh says, "None of that is the case."
"At night only," says Josh.
"No," says Dr. Phil, "that's not the allegation. The allegation is that he was locked in there day and night."
"Well, that's a lie, OK?" says Nancy.
Dr. Phil inquires, "If that was true, would that be wrong, in your view?"
"That would be very wrong," she says.
Dr. Phil asks Josh the same question.
"That depends on the situation, to be honest with you," he replies. "If it's to prevent him from harming himself, then I don't see any problems with that. When I was growing up, I was on medication because I have ADHD, and since then my father helped me learn to control that."
Nancy explains, "His dad was driving trucks for a while. Matthew thought it would be cool to be able to go tinkle in a bottle because that's what he did on the truck. So he's told him if he couldn't hold it " because Matthew was tinkling all over the room " so Randy said, 'If you can't hold it, you can do what we do in the truck.' And that's how it came about."
Josh says, "My father? No."
Turning to Nancy, Dr. Phil says, "You said he was."
They debate the issue briefly.
"He's more of a perfectionist than a control freak," says Josh.
"Well, is there a difference?" asks Dr. Phil. "Were these parents who were just overwhelmed?"
"Yes," says Josh, "they were doing what they thought would be best for him."
"So you stand by Randall and Michelle fully and completely," says Dr. Phil.
"Fully and completely," Nancy tells him.
"Yes, sir," Josh agrees.
Dr. Phil continues, "And you believe in your heart of hearts that, if this just all went away, that this child would be safe and secure back in his home with those two people."
"Absolutely," says Nancy. "Absolutely. They never harmed him, never harmed him at all. My son, there should be more fathers like him who kept a close watch on his children. And he was not an abusive father, and he certainly would not imprison his son."