Texas Judge Captured on Video Beating Daughter Now Under Police Investigation
Could Judge William Adams Face Criminal Charges for Child Abuse?
William Adams, the Texas judge who is accused of beating his daughter with a belt for several minutes because she downloaded video games off the Internet, is now under investigation by police, according to a statement released by the county he serves.
According to the press release by Aransas County Judge Burt Mills, the county is "aware of the video posted on YouTube ... and the matter is now under review by the Police Department."
Although the beating in the video may appear extreme to some, the state of Texas allows parents to use corporal punishment on their children, as long as it is "reasonable," according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which says that use of a belt is also legal, depending on the severity.
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Also, the video was made in 2004, which could mean that even if a crime was committed, the statute of limitations could have expired. According to the Texas criminal code, there are different statutes of limitations for child abuse, ranging from 3 to 10 years.
Hillary Adams told KZTV-10, a television station in Corpus Christi, Texas, that she wanted to bring attention to the physical abuse she had suffered as a child.
"It had happened before, and had been escalating," Adams said.
"I set up a camera, and I caught it ... My father's harassment was getting really bad, so I decided to finally publish the video that I had been sitting on for seven years," she added.
Other reports of outrage about Adams' alleged poor judgment and views on child abuse have also surfaced online.
In an online discussion regarding child abuse on the Rockport, Texas, section on Topix.com weeks before the video was released, a commenter said: "Judge William Adams has held that a child should be ignored when the child reports what a child psychologist has described as 'horrific child abuse.'"
The commenter added, "He has held that a child's report of child abuse is no evidence and that a parent and her lawyer who relies on what a child says should be sanctioned. He has ruled that it is frivolous to believe a child merely because the child is a child."
Due to the anonymity of the Internet, these comments have yet to be confirmed, although it must be noted that several similar allegations were found online, well before the abuse video was uploaded.
