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PSA: TEXAS JUDGE BEATS DAUGHTER *UPDATE*
Yesterday we showed you that horrible video of Judge William Adams beating his disabled 16 year old daughter for illegal downloading, today he is now claiming to have done nothing wrong. “In my mind, I haven’t done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing,” says Adams “And I did lose my temper, but I’ve since apologized.” – well sir, I’d like to know how well that apology would go over in your courtroom if the person on video was some (other) redneck dad abusing his daughter. Again, we ask that you please take a moment and share these articles using the buttons below the posts with everyone you know, this story needs to be made as public as possible. Continue reading for the news story..
PORTLAND, Texas — The daughter of a Texas judge who posted a YouTube video last week of the savage beating she received at his hands says she has experienced an outpouring of support, but feels some regret for making it public.
Hillary Adams said that, until last week, only a couple of close friends knew about the 2004 beating by her father, Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams, who handles child abuse cases. He is now the subject of a police investigation.
He says he did nothing wrong.
The 8-minute video showing her father lashing her 17 times with a belt and threatening to beat her “into submission” had been watched more than 1 million times by early Thursday.
“I’m experiencing some regret because I just pulled the covers off my own father’s misbehavior after so many people thought he was such a good person. … But so many people are also telling me I did the right thing,” she told The Associated Press outside her mother’s home in the town of Portland, on the state’s Gulf Coast near Corpus Christi.
“He’s supposed to be a judge who exercises fit judgment,” she said.
Police in Rockport, where the 51-year-old judge lives, opened an investigation Wednesday after receiving calls from several concerned citizens, Police Chief Tim Jayroe said.
William Adams has been receiving threatening phone calls and faxes at the courthouse since the video went online, Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills said.
“People are upset, understandably upset. But emotions can’t really run this thing,” Mills said.
No one answered the door Wednesday at the judge’s home, repeated calls to his office rang unanswered and his attorney did not respond to phone messages seeking comment. A neighbor said she saw Adams and his girlfriend packing luggage, a briefcase and rifles into their truck, as if to leave for a while.
Corpus Christi television station KZTV caught up with the judge while he was getting into his vehicle Wednesday, and he confirmed it was him in the video. But he said it “looks worse than it is” and he doesn’t expect to be disciplined.
“In my mind, I haven’t done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing,” Adams said. “And I did lose my temper, but I’ve since apologized.”
When told of her father’s comments, Hillary Adams said, “It’s a shining perfect example of his personality and he believes he can do no wrong. … He will cover up rather than admit to what he did and try to come clean, which is what I really want him to do.”
She stressed that she did not post the video as revenge and does not want her father punished. Rather, she did it because she thinks it will force him to seek help, and because he has been harassing her and she thought posting the clip would make that stop.
“We need to reach out to victims and the abusers themselves to get people to realize what it actually is,” she said.
Hillary, who was 16 at the time, said she secretly videotaped the beating in her bedroom because she “knew something was about to happen.” She says her parents were angry at her for using her computer to download pirated content over the Internet.
In the clip’s opening seconds, William Adams is heard telling Hillary’s mother, “Go get the belt. The big one. I’m going to spank her now.” With belt in hand, he turns off the light and tries forcing his daughter to bend over the bed to be beaten, but she refuses.
“Lay down or I’ll spank you in your (expletive) face,” Adams screams while he lashes her with sweeping blows across the legs, ignoring her wails and pleas for him to stop.
A few minutes into the video, Hillary’s mother barks at her to “turn over like a 16-year-old and take it! Like a grown woman!” For about a minute, the ordeal appears to have ended after both parents leave the room and shut the door. But the judge then storms back into the room and the beating resumes.
Child advocates roundly condemned the beating as abuse. But investigators may decide that the judge’s actions, while shocking, weren’t criminal.
The lines between what’s deemed child abuse and what’s considered an acceptable level of discipline differ in various parts of the United States and among various social groups, though the use of objects such as belts and sticks is usually seen as beyond any normal physical punishment, said David Finkelhor, a University of New Hampshire sociology professor who heads the school’s Crimes against Children Research Center.
Jim Hopper, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and a child abuse expert, said there is no doubt that the judge’s actions crossed the line.
“This is an act of brutal violence,” Hopper said. “To beat someone into submission is not discipline. To beat a child into submission makes it harder for that child to take in rules and the values that the parent believes they are imposing on the child.”
Loyola Law School Criminal Law Professor Laurie Levinson told CBS News, “There is no way to justify what happened in this video.”
Levinson says she believes it would be a hard case to prosecute. “This happened several years ago, and the statute of limitations has passed,” she says. “The second thing is that in Texas, like in some other states, there’s an exception for corporal punishment.”
Adams, Aransas County’s top judge, was elected in 2001 and has dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year alone, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.
Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, said in an email that the agency is aware of the video and “will take the appropriate steps in this matter.” He said the agency would have no further comment.
Steve Fischer, a longtime attorney in Rockport, called Adams fair and a “better than average” judge. He said Adams sometimes showed anger, but not in a way that would be considered unusual.
Hillary, whose parents divorced in 2007 after 22 years of marriage, said she waited this long to post the video because she didn’t know what would have happened to her had she posted it just after it happened.
“If this had blown up when I was a minor who knows where I would be. I wouldn’t be able to escape.”
While Hillary is close with her mother, she suspects the video will only further alienate her from her father’s side of the family. Still, she says she believes it was the right thing to do.
“I’m very relieved that these things have been brought to light and not because I want to see my father burn or anything like that. That’s a hideous way of thinking and I don’t want to inflict that upon him,” she said. “I cannot stress enough — I cannot repeat myself enough, that he just needs help.”
42 Comments to PSA: TEXAS JUDGE BEATS DAUGHTER *UPDATE*
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Why is he not in jail?? WHY, exactly??? The mom too?? Why are these people still walking free?
Sadly for this poor girl, the statute of limitations in Arkansas is 5 years. They cannot legally press charges based on this video. Outageous I know
I posted this video link on my Facebook … Unbelievable it got NO copies or shares by my friends, yet some stupid fake ‘So & so’s child has cancer & if you pass this on MicroSoft will donate a penny’ – type links got shared all over the place.
Perhaps time for some serious law reforms & maybe some new friends on my part
i really have a problem with the mom too. i would never let anyone beat any one beat my kids with a belt. i can’t understand why she watched this happen for so long and did nothing to stop this. i really do not believe they love her especially mom.
First. No one who is not a parent should not comment. If you dont have kids you dont have the rite to judge what a parent does as punishment.. Having said that. I have a 14 year old daughter and when she was younger i absolutely spanked her.. with my hand on her butt. The parents in this video do not deserve to have kids. But this video was recorded years ago. And the statute has run out. As far as him being a family law judge.. He is a HYPOCRITE and should be stripped of his position as soon as possible. But sense this is America and the general public cares more about how long Lindsey Lohan is going to jail for this time or that the poor kardashian is getting divorced. It is a shame that people go into an outrage about something like this for a few days then move on.
@ Sarah.. Its Arkansas County in the state of TEXAS..
who cares! he’s the parent and if that’s the way he wanted to punish his kid who are we to judge. Those judging him are doing worst things to their kids – trust me on that! I once knew a mother who called the cops on a women for spanking her kid…the mother who called the cops, was locking her kids in cages…hmmm so this guy is innocent!
I posted this on the first story run here. I am posting it again here.
Just heard on FoxNews that this girl was doing poorly in college and the Judge warned her to shape up or he was pulling her financial support and taking her MERCEDES away.
She warned him that he would be sorry if he did and when he followed up on his punishment she immediately posted the video.
While we all agree the original discipline was way over the top and abusive…we are seeing an otherwise spoiled disrespectfull and ungrateful girl here.
So while dad did very wrong in the video…there is probably a back story that has had him at his wits end. Not defending the action in the video in any way…it was wrong…but…
On a morning show today she stated she doesn’t want him arrested as this was punishment enough.
And what punishment does she think she should have for her poor performance in college? This time dad got it right. Last time…no. She sounds disrespectful and spoiled today.
I would refuse to pay for bad grades too, and that car…I’ve always said if a kid buys it their self, they will understand all it takes to run one and will take care to keep everything up…like insurance and gas.
yea well maybe he was buying her the mercedes and college to hush her all these years. for once someone else is in the drivers seat, someone else has power over him wonder how that makes him feal? and if she wasn’t doing well in college she wouldn’t be the first person to struggle with college you are a dumbshit tazmom. I’m just glad she did what she did for her sake I hope his life from here out is misserable you can tell he has no respect for women.
She comes from an abusive home and has learned how to survive from that abuse. Is it any wonder she is doing poorly in school? I am proof that you can get respect and give respect from your child. I do not have to beat my son, we talk. Sure I yell at times, but to hit him . . . never. I hope the asshole is embarassed and shamed. Good for her to finally have the courage to post this horrible video. Now maybe she can get the help she needs. I wonder if mama got beat too.
Whether this girl posted the video as a response to a threat to take away her car is irrelevant. That is completely separate to the issue of whether he should have disciplined his daughter in that way.
He’s the adult in this relationship, and a judge no less. The standard we expect of him must be far higher than the standard we expect from a teenager. We all know their brains are mush anyway.
Sorry, just realised she would now be in her early 20s (still a mushy brain). Doesn’t change the fact that he was the adult at the time, and it seems likely he crossed a line by using anything other than an open hand to discipline her.
Honestly, this spoiled little girl needed her butt whipped just like the majority of kids today need a swift kick in the rear. Kids feel like they are entitled to everything, get away with disrespecting their parents all the time. Toughen up people, your all a bunch of pansies.
If my kid had posted this video she would be looking for somewhere else to live. I think she should have turned over and taken her punishment like dad said and it would have been over. Mom should have sat on her while dad whooped her
He’s a Texan, so he’s probably molested her too. That shit is common with rednecks: “keep it in the family/incest is best”. Fuck THAT shit! It’s exactly why I don’t live in Kentucky anymore, sick fucks.
if this “innocent little angel” was crippled why did she set up a hidden cam? Seems this spoiled brat got just what she deserved!! Also seems the mother might have been behind the scene to frame the ex hubby. I wish him all the best and hope this all back fires on the evil daughter and ex wife. We need more fathers and mothers like this. Society doesn’t need your devil spawned,spoiled brats.
It is also being reported at this time, that she chose to reside with her father after her parents divorce.
The “discipline” is over the top, but there is more to this story.
@ Sara read again this is Portland TX not Arkansas. The County name is similar to Arkansas but we are talking TX here.
While I think it was a bit excessive, I don’t think it should be called “severe abuse”. When you see a child who has been punched repeatedly, has broken bones, fractured skulls, internal bleeding, and/or dies from an actual beating, then you know this can’t compare. Yes, it’s going further than most parents would go with discipline, but she stood up and walked around immediately after. She suffered no long-term physical impairments. Her emotional scars weren’t enough to keep her from having him support her through now. Do I think he should remain on the bench? Probably not. Do I think she has more motives than she claims? Yes.
I don’t care wtf the girl does, if she got her Mercedes taken away and retaliated, wtf ever…I could not watch that entire clip…and I am a mother, so suck it on the ‘can’t comment lest yr parent’ bullshit..even the hillbilly excuse doesn’t float and I’m in tennessee..he was college educated, and even better, a fucking judge, FAMILY JUDGE at that…so that sick, sadistic fuck knew full well on wtf he was doing, which makes it even more disgusting. Its his own fault if he fucked up her raising, he shld take that belt to his own ass for ‘spoiling’ her, if he did..if I were disabled, I’d take a little ass kissing myself…and so would you. But when u get said ass kissing, u ain’t got no clue ’bout rules unless someone taught you and he didn’t do that. Still dont excuse his actions. Thats like getting pissed at my dog when he sits because I taught them to do it, get me?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The instant you raise a hand to your defenseless child above and beyond what is considered discipline, you have revoked your right to being treated as a human being.
Did I get spanked as a child? Yes.
Did I get belted as a child? Hell yes.
Did my dad ever hit me in the face, or continue hitting me until I was curled up, trying to defend myself? No.
That’s the difference between abuse and punishment. I always knew that I deserved what I got, because I had intentionally broken the rules. This girl is handicapped. Her story is totally different. If this guy couldn’t handle having a handicapped child, well… You don’t even want to know what I think about that.
Disgusting. That is clearly abuse and he was probably abusing her long before the video. One or two licks maybe but to beat someone repeatedly like he did is clearly wrong. May he be stripped of his post as a judge and suffer his own living hell for his actions.
Thomas, I disagree, there are those of us who don’t have/cannot have kids that know far more about parenting then people who have been blessed with children. So I think us childless people have every right to comment.
that chick has nothing to cry about… my parents would done that every day, if they could. i remember my mother beat me so bad one time she broke the skin and she put rubbing alcohol on it and i still survive. everyone im the family knew about it too and noone did anything about it, but that was parenting back than not abuse… now i tell my mother that she will spent her last days in the worst nursing home in the area… lol
Sounds like some spoiled brat was mad at daddy!! Turn her over to the record companies to prosecute her for stealing music instead!! That will teach her to break the law. We are in a sad spot when parents can’t offer good discipline to their shitty kids anymore. If more parents beat their kids like they did back in the day, we would not have nearly as much problems with our children that we do. We wouldn’t have spoiled brat central in a park in New York crying about their useless overpriced degrees. Exactly what kind of job was a $60,000 literary arts degree going to get you again???
I’m not sure if we can really judge this family based on this one video. When I was a kid I would purposely overreact to my spankings in the hope that my parents would stop. They didn’t really hurt after the whipping. Usually crying and such is an in the moment thing. Not to mention I look back at my childhood and I remember taking a lot of things too emotionally and overreacting. Now if we had pictures of heavy bruising and breaks in the skin that would be another story. I can’t recall having a whipping that left bruising yet this video reminds me almost exactly how I acted when my parents whipped me.
As a person who was spanked with a belt until the age of 16, and now a mother of 2, I can say I have never and will never take a belt to one of my children. Will they get heinie pops occasionally? Yes, but it’s very rare. The way I look at this, is that the girl was 16. She could legally get married in TX, would be tried as an adult for most crimes, and for all intents and purposes was a grown woman. If she had done this to him, if the roles were reversed, she would be in prison. If he were a caretaker, not her father, because she is handicapped, he would be in prison. If you saw a man doing this to an unrelated woman in a club, would the cops get called? Yes. Married man doing it to his wife in the privacy of their home? It would be domestic violence and he would go to jail. The parent/child relationship does not make this kind of a beating ok, no matter how you try to justify it. To categorize the “spanking” of a 16 year old on the same level as a butt pop to a 3 year old is asinine. This should be treated as domestic violence or assault, pure and simple, because there comes a point when teenagers can’t be categorized the same way as children any more. My dad beat me and my sisters until I was big enough and mad enough to fight back. This girl didn’t have that chance, she couldn’t fight back.
Also, just for educational purposes, it should be considered that even if she could’ve fought back, she wouldn’t have been able to. I looked up Ataxic cerebral palsy, and found the following:”… A person with ataxic cerebral palsy will usually have a wide-based gait, or walk. Because of their poor sense of balance they tend to walk with their feet unusually far apart. In appearance, a person with ataxic cerebral palsy will look very unsteady and shaky. This is due to low muscle tone where the body is constantly trying to counter-balance itself.
The most significant characteristic of ataxic cerebral palsy is tremor, especially when attempting quick or precise movements, such as writing or buttoning a shirt. Also known as intention tremor, this symptom of ataxic cerebral palsy worsens when attempting a voluntary movement. For example, when reaching for an object, such as a book, the hand and arm will begin to shake. As the hand gets closer to the object the trembling gets more severe…”
Do you think she would’ve been able to get a hold of the belt to fight back? She can barely stay balanced on the bed, let alone defend herself. And, considering the fact that this does not seem to be the first time a beating like this was administered, she probably didn’t bother that much. She had no chance. If it was a stranger doing it to your child, would you be okay with it? Why does the fact that he is her father make any difference?
Hitting your kid is not the answer. We try to teach our children it’s not OK to hit other people under most circumstances, yet we hit them? It makes no sense. Also, studies have show corporal punishment isn’t particularly effective when it comes to children.
I have a child. She has pissed me off a lot. But I’m not going to spank/slap/take a belt to her. Does the thought cross my mind? Sure. But I take a step back, give her an age-appropriate punishment, and it seems to work just fine. I have one of the most well-behaved kids in my circle of friends/acquaintances with children my child’s age. You can set boundaries with someone without laying a hand to them.
Speaking as someone who has been abused, it can leave you a little messed up in the head. She probably did have motive for submitting this video at this time. There probably is a weird dynamic between her and her dad. She probably has some issues that need to be taken care of in therapy. Still, this guy should not be judging family law cases.
I saw no problem, I was spanked that way when I was young and so what? That’s what wrong with our children now…and what, now she has palsy or had it then? I say it was blackmail and she wanted fame…she got it.
She needs another whipping. Obviously she is a disrespectful whore.
@Mom2two Thank you..
I was raised in an abusive household, and I have come out still having nightmares about it (I’m 36). I can’t hit my kids. A plastic spoon on the palm of the hand was all I could tolerate doing and ONLY if the situation was severe. Our 5 kids are all good kids and not one of them ever got more than that, a few times in their lives. This person obviously beat the girl in anger, not love and discipline. THAT is what makes it abuse.
Sounds like dad needs a beating himself!
I’m sorry. When I did bad in school and argued with my parents while I was a teenager, they didn’t get a belt. They asked me if I want extra-class tutoring on the subjects I was performing badly and suggested therapy when they felt I was depressed.
I did therapy, I had tutoring and eventually joined college.
So no, there’s no excuse for this beating. Not even bad grades.
To those who believe that this beating was in any way acceptable as a “punishment” need therapy. I have a 4 year old, and I believe in spanking, but only with an open hand and only in rare occasions. To those who believe that beating our children is the answer to disobedience and disrespect think again! All it does is make the kids do it in a sneakier way! This is coming from a woman who “survived” an abusive home and has all the emotional scars to prove it.
and how many times do you think hes taken kids from there parents for hitting hes still wroung if you see the video just when you think the beatings are done he comes back in and says i didnt get to whip her check it out
George Carlin: “I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”
OMG! I cannot believe how many of you uneducated hicks out there think that this behavior was okay. Did you watch this video? It made me cry and I am a grown woman. While I agree we should be able to discipline our children, this was not discipline, it was a BEATING. And while a lot of you are right, we don’t know the whole story. Who has to? No matter what she did, does any child deserve to be be beaten repeatedly with a belt? I will admit that i have spanked my child before (with an open hand, on the bottom) watching this video will make me think twice about it next time.
That was heart wrenching that wasn’t “reasonable discipline” that was torture. If he had done that to an adult woman he’d be in jail for assault and he did that to his sixteen year old daughter? that’s revolting what kind of sad sick piece of human excrement would do that to their kid? I mean being hit with a belt hurts I cringe watching it and I’m 30 I can’t imagine being 16 and facing that from your own father the one man who is suppose to love and protect you. Watching this video made me want to take a belt to that ass serious let me hit him 10 times with a belt and I bet he’d cry!
THOSE PARENTS CAN GO CHOKE ON THEIR BELTS THEY ARE TRUE ARSEHOLES :’(
Hack again?!
Some kids cannot be reached any other way. He did let it go way too far, but, sometimes a kid needs a good rap on the butt to snap them out of their iPod and Play Station fueled way of thinking. When talking, grounding, begging, barganing, bribing, and every other socially acceptable way of administering discipline fails, what’s wrong with spanking a kid? Got it, this was way more than spanking. But, smacking a kid on the legs with a leather belt is probably not going to cause any permanent physical damage but it sure gets the kid to think straight for a few minutes. I got a belt and it made me a better person. My dad got it and his dad and his dad…… Now because some people are so crazy they can’t stop, the rest of us cant even discipline kids and they know it.
just because he is a judge he can get away with this