A Texas judge is under investigation after his disabled daughter posted a YouTube video of him savagely beating her with a belt during a tirade several years ago when she was a teenager
A Texas judge is under investigation after his disabled daughter posted a YouTube video of him savagely beating her with a belt during a tirade several years ago when she was a teenager
Click here to view vedioA judge who was filmed whipping his disabled daughter with a belt yesterday remained unrepentant claiming his life had been made difficult after the violent footage emerged.
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| Unrepentant: Judge William Adams (top) said he had done 'nothing wrong' by violently beating his daughter Hillary Adams (above), after she posted footage of the horrific attack in which she was struck 20 times |
In extraordinary remarks to reporters, family law Judge William Adams denied he had done anything wrong after the YouTube video, filmed secretly in 2004 by his daughter Hillary, swept the internet.
He said, "She's mad because I've ordered her to bring the car back, in a nutshell, but yeah that's me, I lost my temper."
The Court-at-Law Judge, from Aransas County, Texas, added, "It was a long time ago... I really don't want to get into this right now because as you can see my life's been made very difficult over this child."
He added, "In my mind I have not done anything wrong other than discipline my child when she was caught stealing. I did lose my temper, I've apologised.. it looks worse than it is."
The video shows the motive for the attack was because Adams, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been caught downloading music to the computer in her bedroom.
In the footage, Judge Adams can be seen delivering around ten powerful strikes across his daughter's legs and backside. His wife then grabs the belt from him to take over, at which point he walks out only to return moments later with another belt so he can continue beating her. In total the girl receives 20 hard lashes from her father and one from her mother.
'Addiction'Taken when the girl was 16, Adams, now 22, said she decided last week to make it public to help her father despite admitting that she may have ruined his reputation.
She said, "It had happened before and had been escalating. I set up a camera and I caught it."
The judge's wife Hallie Adams, who it is believed is separated from him, posted on Facebook an emotional plea to her husband to end the abuse.
She wrote, "I am praying for my daughters and me and my family to heal in all ways from emotional and physical abuse, for the current and continuing abuse of my children and me that has been ongoing to end."
She added that the abuse was a kind of addiction for her then husband.
Police Chief Tim Jayroe, of Rockport, Texas, said yesterday that an investigation had been launched following phone calls from members of the public after the film swept the Internet.
Feeling guiltyAdams said she decided now was the time to show the secretly-filmed footage because she was tired of being harassed by her father. She said, "My father's harassment was getting really bad, so I decided to finally publish the video."
But yesterday Adams said via Twitter she was sorry she had posted the video.
She tweeted, "I'm feeling some regret for publishing the video because to ruin my own father is heavy indeed. But I really want him to seek help."
Disturbing videoIn the 8-minute video Judge Adams can be seen delivering around ten powerful strikes across his daughter's legs and backside.u00a0 His daughter begs him to stop he can be heard snarling: 'Bend over the f'''ing bed. Lay down or I'll spank you in the f'''ing face." As the child lies crying on her bed, her father shouts: "Do you want to put some more computer games on? Are you happy disobeying your parents?"
