Judge William Adams from Aransas County, Texas, faced a police investigation today after his disabled daughter Hillary posted on YouTube a secretly-filmed video of her father beating her with a leather belt.
Hillary Adams took revenge on her father, Court-at-Law Judge William Adams saying: “It had happened before, and had been escalating. I set up a camera, and I caught it.“
Police Chief Tim Jayroe, of Rockport, Texas, said today that the probe was launched after members of the public contacted them after the film swept the Internet.
The footage was taken in 2004 when Hillary Adams was 16. She decided last week to make it public by uploading it on YouTube and it was then posted on Reddit.
Chief Tim Jayroe said he has not determined the identities of the people in the video nor whether any crimes were committed, according to Msnbc.
Judge William Adams responded to the tape this afternoon:
“It happened years ago.. I apologized. It’s not as bad as it looks on tape.”
The video was being examined by the District Attorney and previous controversial judgements Judge Adams made in cases involving children have come to light.
Hillary Adams, who suffers from cerebral palsy, was attacked because she was caught downloading music to the computer in her bedroom.
After delivering around ten powerful strikes across her legs and backside, Judge William Adams’ 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 the beating.
The video appears to be taken on a webcam set up in the bedroom and dates from 2004 but only became public last week on October 27.
The footage gained speed yesterday with the video trending on Twitter and being viewed 600,000 times on YouTube.
A Facebook page entitled Don’t Re-Elect Judge William Adams was set up yesterday and already has 6,000 followers.
Hillary Adams, now 23, has now tweeted that she was sorry she posted the video.
Hillary Adams wrote this afternoon: “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.”
Judge William Adams’ daughter spoke to a local TV network by phone earlier today, saying she is safe, and decided now was the time because she was tired of being harassed by her father.
Hillary Adams said: “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.”
The young woman added that she decided to post the footage – which she’d been “holding onto until the right time” – after receiving “a barrage of harassment” in a phone call from her father.
From her Twitter account, Hillary Adams tweeted: “Please spread the word that my father needs professional help and not hatred. We can offer him the tools to be a better person.
“It is my wish that people stop threatening my father and start offering professional help. That is what he really needs.”
The seven-minute long video shows the girl beging her father to stop and Judge William Adams can be heard snarling: “Bend over the f***ing bed.
“Lay down or I’ll spank you in the F***ing face.”
Calls to Judge William Adams’ office in Texas went unanswered.
The police department confirmed it would be making an announcement shortly.
In a court judgement last October, Judge William Adams said that a child’s statements “amounted to no evidence” despite the fact his words had been confirmed by third party witnesses and recorded on video several times. The young person had also been interviewed by a child psychologist who believed the child.
According to Judge William Adams, all children are “fantasizers” and their testimony should just be ignored.
Judge William Adams’ daughter, Hillary is said to have suffered from ataxic cerebral palsy from birth. The condition causes problems including difficulty with balance, shaky movements of hands or feet, and difficulty with speech.
Hillary Adams, who has a passion for technology, is believed to have illegally downloaded the video game as well as music when her father viciously had beaten her.
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Cerebral palsy can be the result of physical abuse causing brain trauma, like in shaken baby syndrome. After seeing this video, I have to wonder….