Texas Judge on Beatings: Daughter is 'Confusing and Hollow'
William Adams, the Texas judge caught on video whipping his daughter Hillary, has released a statement through his lawyer today, calling her motives “confusing and hollow.”
The judge has been under investigation for a seven-and-a-half minute video the girl posted on YouTube. In the recording, Adams strikes the girl on her legs, buttocks, and arms with a belt 17 times.
According to Hillary, her father is possibly an anger addict, and the beatings occurred regularly. She has stated in multiple interviews that she doesn’t want him to be harmed or necessarily fired, but simply wants him to “get help.”
Today, Judge Adams’ statement suggests that Hillary has a completely different reason for posting the video. A string of behavior some parents would deem irrational, including dropping out of college, which led to the animosity between father and daughter.
The statement read, “Just prior to the YouTube upload, a concerned father shared with his 23-year-old daughter that he was unwilling to continue to work hard and be her primary source of financial support, if she was going to simply ‘drop out’, and strive to achieve no more in life than to work part time at a video game store.”
Adding, “Hillary warned her father if he reduced her financial support, and took away her Mercedes automobile, which her father had provided, he would live to regret it. The post was then uploaded.”
The statement certainly shed new light on the events taking place, and could cast doubt on Hillary’s purpose behind releasing the controversial tape, which to date has had 3.7 million hits on YouTube.
However, a daughter’s motives can’t be prosecuted. Adams’ fashion of punishing his daughter can.
Tim Jayroe, the Rockport Police Chief, said that “a charge could’ve been made” for injury to a child or an assault-related offense had it not been for Texas’ five-year statute of limitations. This incident occurred in 2004, making the seven-year-old case ineligible for pursuit.
Regardless, Adams’ could still lose his position as Aransas County’s top family court judge, even without a criminal conviction.
The public is in an uproar over the video and Adams’ actions, and many call for him to be removed from his position as a judge.
Currently, Adams’ has temporarily discontinued hearing cases, due to an investigation by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.