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How much should you charge for a photograph?Texas Judge Under Investigation For Video Of Him Beating Daughter
A disturbing video uploaded to Youtube last week showing a Texas judge severely beating his disabled teenage daughter has sparked an uproar on the internet and an investigation into the judge.
The video, recorded in 2004 but uploaded last week, shows Aransas County Court-At-Law Judge William Adams - a family judge nonetheless - repeatedly beating his daughter with a belt because she had downloaded music from the internet.
Adams acknowledged he is the man in the video, but told a Texas radio station that “it’s not as bad as it looks.”
Judge Adams told us, "It happened years ago.. I apologized."
When asked if he thought the conduct in the video was excessive, Judge Adams said, "It's not as bad as it looks on tape."
The Aransas County Courthouse posted the following press release on its website today, acknowledging they have seen the video:
ARANSAS COUNTY, TEXAS - Judge Burt Mills has today announced that Aransas County is aware of the video posted on YouTube regarding County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams, and the matter is now under review by the Police Department. Please refrain from communication with County offices or the Sheriff's Department on this matter until the review has been completed. Calls, emails, and faxes only create disruptions for other ongoing county business. The public's cooperation would be most appreciated.
The daughter in the video is Hillary Adams, who has cerebral palsy and was 16 at the time of the beating.
This is what she wrote in the Youtube description:
2004: Aransas County Court-At-Law Judge William Adams took a belt to his own teenage daughter as punishment for using the internet to acquire music and games that were unavailable for legal purchase at the time. She has had ataxic cerebral palsy from birth that led her to a passion for technology, which was strictly forbidden by her father’s backwards views. The judge’s wife was emotionally abused herself and was severely manipulated into assisting the beating and should not be blamed for any content in this video. The judge’s wife has since left the marriage due to the abuse, which continues to this day, and has sincerely apologized and repented for her part and for allowing such a thing, long before this video was even revealed to exist. Judge William Adams is not fit to be anywhere near the law system if he can’t even exercise fit judgement as a parent himself. Do not allow this man to ever be re-elected again. His “judgement” is a giant farce. Signed, Hillary Adams, his daughter.
This is what she wrote on Reddit:
It’s definitely me. :) I was holding onto the video until the right time, and after a barrage of harassment from my father over the phone, I snapped and finally uploaded it. Now I’m sorry I didn’t do it sooner.
Texas is a one-party consent state, meaning you are allowed to record people without their knowledge, even if they have an expectation of privacy.
Come back for updates.
Comments
Judge Adams said, "It's not as bad as it looks on tape."
Actually, it's worse. I've seen the tape, and it's reprehensible. This guy should be charged with child abuse.
Way worse. Beating for downloading music?
Its not even child abuse, its out and out assault and battery.
He should be charged and locked up.
Completely immoral RWA (Right Wing Authoritarian) "Biblical" Christian "Tough Love" abusiveness in action.
http://www.nospank.net/
There is no such thing as "Biblical Christian Tough Love" that even slightly resembles what this devil father did to his daughter. Christians don't treat their kids that way and I resent your remark. I am shaking so bad after viewing that video that I wish I was the judge to sentence that monster. He would be in jail for life, and if I had my way, it would be the death sentence. This is just beyond belief. If there's anything I hate, it's child abuse, and this was horrible.
I want to add something else. The daughter seems to excuse the mother because she was abused, too, but no mother in her right mind (obviously this woman wasn't in her right mind) would stand there and contribute to this monster's brutality. I can't even describe this insane, controlling, mad-man on paper in a way fitting to his real character. Not only did he beat her over 20 times, then he verbally abused her in a way nobody should ever talk to anybody, much less their daughter. I am really upset by this video. I said I thought the death sentence was appropriate, but that's too easy. Give the belts to about 20 of his inmates he's put in jail and let them have at him for 20 minutes, to see what it feels like, then lock him up forever. He's a menace to society, to say the least. And a judge? I think I'm going to vomit.
Drop the right wing crap. His political affiliation has nothing to do with this.
Rodney King? Beaten by police officers who union wide vote democratic. Does that mean democrats are beaters?
Look at the Occupy Wall Street protesters and their violence. What can be deduced?
This guy (JUDGE) IS AN ABSOLUTE ASSH*LE AND NEEDS TO GO TO JAIL HIMSELF FOR CHILD ABUSE.
Oh, and I am a republican conservative.
Right-wing conservatives don't just bring the family values/morality crap to the table, they campaign on it.
His affiliation has everything to do with it.
Give me a break. I'm a "Right-wing conservative", and I would beat the dog shit out of this piece of crap. He isn't fit to be a judge, much less a parent. If he was truly a right-wing conservative, he would have morals, although it appears that he is more of an extreme right authoritarian fascist. I can talk a lot of shit about the extreme left as well, but right or left has no bearing on this discussion.
His affiliation has NOTHING to do with it, he's just a piece of shit.
But it has everything with him being a hypocrite... who shouldn't be judging in family law.
You're missing the point. His inability to judge was never in question. His political affiliation, regardless of whether it is Republican or Democrat, has nothing to do with him being a hypocrite. This guy is a scumbag, without question, but I've known some left wing hypocrites as well. If you'd like an example, Barrack Obama comes to mind with his "transparent government", so don't give me that "all right wingers" fallacious garbage, because the left has their fair share of corrupt judges sitting on the bench as well.
Well said Rance. I get rather tired of people trying to bring political affiliation into stuff like this. Scumbags come from all ends of the political spectrum. So does hypocrisy.
Right Wing Authoritarian is not a "political" affiliation." RWA is a personality trait.
"Why are high RWAs extra-punitive...?...they believe more
in the beneficial effects of punishment...they admit it feels personally good, it makes them glad, to be able to punish a perpetrator. They GET OFF SMITING the sinner; they relish being “the arm of the Lord"...Which suggests authoritarian followers have a LITTLE VOLCANO OF HOSTILITY bubbling away inside them looking for a (safe, approved) way to erupt. This was supported by an experiment I ran..."
excerpt from page 23 of
The Authoritarians
Bob Altemeyer
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
University of Manitoba
http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
If you click "contact" on the court website it brings you to a page telling you that the contact page is down.
Oh, poor court officials and judge. Are you getting called to task for your actions, like you do to people all the time?
Unreal.
This guy needs to go NOW!
Or maybe they'll let me have as many slaps of him with a belt as he did to his little daughter? I'll take that instead.
"Go get ma belt, go get the big one, I'm going to smack her now"
This guy has a real problem. He needs to spend sometime behind bars for his abusive behaviour.
It's typical for abusers to make statements like, "It happened years ago.. I apologized." and "It's not as bad as it looks on tape." when it's worse than it looks on tape.
Nest he'll be telling us how she was a difficult child and needed correcting. All part of the abusers handbook.
This judge needs to be disbarred, receive a lifetime ban from holding public office, and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law in front of a jury. He needs to spend some quality time in prison, which includes the same number of lashes with a belt...in public. I don't buy it that the mother was not a willing participant. If you listen to the tone of her voice, she's as much at fault. As a family court judge, you have to wonder what kind of rulings he made where cases involving children are concerned.
"As a family court judge..."
This can't be emphasized enough! ABC 20/20 says "Judge William Adams, who has ruled on child abuse cases throughout his career..." IOW, he knows better. He's obviously unfit to be a sitting judge.
The ABC piece (dated today) goes on to quote the daughter saying "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," Hillary Adams told ABC News affiliate KXTV.
"It had happened before, and had been escalating," Adams said. "I set up a camera, and I caught it." So, ya know, this wasn't an isolated occurence. I fucking hate abusers of any sort but reserve a special hatred for abusers with authority who don't think the law applies to them.
Not to go all ad hominem (well, actually I will) but the guy just looks like a tight-assed creep and has that pinched-face look that suggests he might have some dildos and wetsuits stashed in his closet somewhere.
Exactly- for her to be ready to capture it, means that it happened before- and problem a lot.
Poor girl. Glad she finally published it.
Why does it seem that the most crazy stories involving the courts are in Texas? An equally disturbing story was published yesterday about a Texas federal court case: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=362537
...and some quotes from the judge:
THE COURT: "I'm telling you don't scr-w with me. You are a fool, a fool, a fool, a fool to scr-w with a federal judge, and if you don't understand that, I can make you understand it. I have the force of the Navy, Army, Marines and Navy behind me."
THE COURT: "You realize that order is an order of the Court. So any failure to comply with that order is contempt, punishable by lots of dollars, punishable by possible jail, death"
the judge says he apologized for the incident long ago, as if that completely excuses it.
How many people, finding themselves before that judge, find their charges dismissed simply because they felt remorse and apologized? Last I checked, such an apology in court amounts to a guilty plea, which almost always results in a conviction, not a dismissal.
This is an interesting case.
Two facts:
1. There is a large group of people who are vehemently upset about believe the acts of the individual judge in this video are criminal.
2. The video presented was created by the act of one individual videotaping another individual without their consent.
Would this same large group of people support any person being videotaped without his/her consent?
Would this same large group of people support a government recording any of its citizens without their consent?
Texas is a one-party consent state, which means as long as one person who is a party to anyone recorded in a video or telephone call gives consent, the act of recording another as well is legal.
The law perhaps will help the daughter in this case and in any other cases where a crime is being planning or committed by one person to another, but the law does not specifically state it applies in cases where a crime is being committed. It's a blanket law to cover all cases of consent in regards to recording.
I hope the controversial nature of this video will raise awareness, create a dialogue, and apply pressure to judicial and political powers across the nation to provide thoughtful analysis and a reexamination of the controversial nature of this law.
I think you're making good points.
Would this same large group of people support any person being videotaped without his/her consent?
Not any person. But it's reasonable to support video recording a person without their consent who has a history of abusing children.
Would this same large group of people support a government recording any of its citizens without their consent?
Everybody supports that. They simply require a warrant to be issued first. Of course, the last two administrations have ignored the warrant part, and everyone should have a problem with that.
What a FUCKING BASTARD this man is... but frankly I hope the book is thrown at the wife too; she may not be as violent, but she's not much better, IMO.
I got upset watching and listening... my father was also a fan of his fucking belt. MAY HE ROT IN HELL, THE PIECE OF USELESS SHIT....
Yeah, asshole, beat her into submission.... And I'm sure you'll wonder, in your fucking feeble old age, just WHY your daughter doesn't dote on you.
Good for the girl to upload this to the Internet. I hope her parents both get trashed for this, AS THEY DESERVE!!
Wow, I got thru 2 mins and had to shut it off. Please dont tell me he beats her for 7 minutes. And Im sure he'll tell us this was the only time it happened.
Having been on the receiving end of this sort of thing I could not watch past the 1:12 mark. It brings up lots of mixed feelings. And for those of you that want to say that this is because of party affiliation my father is just about as liberal as they come, so party/political status does not have anything to do with it.
Anyone who paints this as a partisan act would be an idiot.
Texas LE has announced the statute of limitations has expired so this POS will not be charged. Maybe the Feds have a go at it?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/judge-william-adams-video-beati...
Well, if the statute of limitations has expired, maybe the good old boys of Texas will take care of him in an appropriate way. Let me have the honor of digging his grave! That way, he'll be in hell sooner where he'll get his just desserts!
The story continues.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060725/Judge-William-Adams-give...
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