Investigation into Texas family court judge's home life *trigger warning*

In 2004, Texas Court at Law Judge William Adams' daughter Hillary, then 16, downloaded songs and games not available for sale off the internet. Ordinarily, this would draw a blank look from parents, or if they thought it would get them into trouble, they would cut off internet access. Instead, William Adams viciously beat his daughter with a belt.

How do we know? Because Hillary Adams taped the incident, and yesterday released the tape on Reddit, claiming that the release was in response to continued harassment from Adams. Police are now said to be investigating the incident. Hillary Adams has since tweeted some regret about ruining her father's life; for his part, judge William Adams has been quoted as saying that the incident is not as bad as it appears on tape. While the mother also appears in the video, Hillary has cited that she herself was suffering from abuse and, prior to the release of the film, sincerely apologized to her daughter.

Below is the Youtube clip in full. I've spoilered it just to make sure that anyone who cannot handle it won't see anything, but be warned: while there is no blood, the clip is extremely brutal. I had to stop the clip myself three times, and I was quite literally shaking with rage when I was finished with it. If you cannot access the clip from the link provided, it is also attached to the link above.

That's fucked up

Jesus...!!!

holy fuck.

While I don't necessarily disagree with spanking, as I got spanked as a child with a wooden spoon or belt usually just one or two strokes, this goes beyond and becomes abuse. I can't believe this judge is someone who resides over child abuse cases

From a psychological standpoint, i find it kind of interesting that he turns the light out first. Perhaps there's a bit of shame going on there? Or is he just trying to terrorize her more?

And apparently the daughter is disabled.
I have no words.

holy shit.

The threat that he gives her at 5:19 really scares the shit out of me. The beating is traumatising to watch, but it's that voice that he uses to let her know that he lord all power over her that really turns my stomach. I can't see what he's doing, but I just know that he's holding her down on the bed by her face as he's threatening her.

I wish I didn't watch that. I'm so glad his career and reputation are being ruined.

At best, he'll get a slap on the wrist from the courts.

Criminally, I'll bet you're right. But as far as career and reputation goes?

DONE.

Agreed. Clearly this wasn't a one-off incident, or she wouldn't have set the camera to record it.

Sending out the lawyer signal...

Anyone know if this video would be admissible as evidence?

^ On a kind of related note, since she's an adult now, would she have to press charges for him to be prosecuted? I'm completely ignorant on how these cases go once the victim is no longer a minor.

For the record, the OP has completed law school and is studying for his BAR exam.

That's not discipline....that's savagery.

I wonder how things are for the younger sister. She doesn't look old enough to have moved out in the ensuing seven years.

If the mom split, she's probably with her.

Here's my view...

Short version

Long Version

Woah! She viciously attacked her father's belt with her butt and legs thus ruining his life... that poor man. Kids can be so cruel!!
[/sarcasm]

This.
I don't advise looking at the comments section on the video on youtube. It's filled with people screeching about the father's right to "discipline" his child in any way he sees fit. Period.
A bit appalling the number of people who don't understand there's a difference between punishment and abuse.

I think that's a critical distinction. Any time people discuss abuse in the abstract, it tends to become a discussion about what was done, and whether the what crosses a line. The problem is that even if you accept the idea that children could deserve being hit a good 20 times or so with a belt (and for the record, I do not. I'm just speaking hypothetically), it ignores the how and why of punishment. How does the beating, combined with the absolute physical domination and a man's telling his daughter that she doesn't deserve to be a part of the family instill the discipline that punishment is supposed to be about? Further, is doing that really commensurate to the crime of downloading a video game? And the answer to both, of course, is no.

Discussions about abuse have a disturbing tendency to become discussions about whether it is appropriate to discipline your child with force. It's critical to remember that this video doesn't address that question, because what that man did had nothing to do with discipline. It had to do with breaking her will. The fact that he did it with means I wouldn't use on an animal just makes the crime worse.

Depends significantly on the Texas Rules of Evidence , which are probably (like all states) variations on the Federal Rules of Evidence, and also what the wording of the Texas Statute they charge him under, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't come in under the Federal Rules. Basically, supposing I had the unenviable task of representing the judge in court, I could see making three basic objections: authentication, hearsay, and unfair prejudice. Authentication is the only objection anyone would take seriously, since that deals with the question of whether this tape is what it purports to be, or whether in the intervening years Hillary or someone else with an axe to grind against Judge Adams altered the tape. But I would expect each of these objections to be overruled.

Over-educated, overcomplicated reply to a very simple concept.