Judge William Adams of Aransas given with restraining order from visiting his 10-year-old daughter
Judge William Adams of Aransas County Court-at-Law, who was seen beating his older daughter in a video she posted on YouTube, has been placed under a temporary restraining order, which prevents him from visiting his younger daughter.
Under the order issued Thursday by another judge, Judge William Adams is forbidden from visiting his 10-year-old daughter without getting permission from the girl’s mother, his ex-wife.
The order also says William Adams can’t disparage the woman or drink alcohol within 24 hours of seeing his child.
Brett Pritchard, the attorney for judge’s ex-wife Hallie Adams, said in a prepared statement that the ruling “temporarily terminates the visitation between Judge Adams and his younger child”.
William Adams’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment Friday from The Associated Press.
Judge William Adams of Aransas County Court-at-Law, who was seen beating his older daughter in a video she posted on YouTube, has been placed under a temporary restraining order, which prevents him from visiting his younger daughter
State District Judge Kemper Stephen Williams scheduled a hearing for November 21 to decide on Hallie Adams’ request to have William Adams’ visitation denied or require that it be supervised.
Judge William Adams has not held court since his 23-year-old daughter Hillary Adams released a secretly-recorded 2004 video of him beating her with a belt.
He faced public calls for his resignation and threats after Hillary Adams posted the 8-minute clip on YouTube that shows her father viciously lashing her with a belt and trying to force her to bend over her bed to be beaten despite her pleas to stop.
Hallie Adams filed an affidavit Thursday claiming a dysfunctional 22-year marriage and conflict that continued since their 2007 divorce. Brett Pritchard said the furious reaction to the video triggered the legal move.
“The impetus is she (Hallie Adams) doesn’t feel at first that her daughter is safe going down there to be with the judge right now,” Brett Pritchard said.
“The impetus now is the result of the video, not necessarily the video itself.”
The district attorney and federal prosecutors both declined to bring charges against William Adams, but the State Commission on Judicial Conduct continues its investigation.
Last week, Rockport Police Chief Tim Jayroe said that police did not interview the younger daughter, but asked both Hallie and Hillary Adams about it and there was no indication of abuse of the younger daughter.
It comes after police revealed the judge would not face criminal charges because too much time has passed.
William Adams likely would have faced charges of causing injury to a child or other assault-related offences for the savage 2004 beating.
But the five-year statutes of limitations expired so the Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge probably won’t be charged for beating the cerebral palsy sufferer, Rockport Police Chief Tim Jayroe said.
It came shortly after Hallie and Hillary Adams appeared in a televised interview to reveal that she had been hiding her husband’s “secret of addiction for a long time”.
Hallie Adams appeared with her daughter Hillary to describe years of abuse in their “dysfunctional” family and Hillary revealed her father dared her to post the video online.
Hillary Adams also told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she uploaded the video to make it clear her father was in "some denial about the way you are treating me and my mother"
Hillary Adams also told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she uploaded the video to make it clear her father was in “some denial about the way you are treating me and my mother”.
“I thought he was a monster,” Hillary Adams added.
“I thought that I was a witch. I really don’t know what the solution for him is. Except that I really want him to seek some kind of help.”
William Adams was granted joint custody of his 10-year-old daughter in his 2007 divorce.
Hallie Adams, who also appeared in the video, tried to explain why she too had hit her daughter and stood aside to let her husband attack.
“My answer to you and to the world is something that I’ve been hiding for a very long time is a family secret and that’s addiction.”
When asked if she has an addiction, Hallie Adams said no but when asked if her ex-husband did, she told the interviewer: “Yes sir.”
Hallie Adams offered no further explanation as to what the addiction might be.
She added: “I lived in an environment of dysfunction and it steadily got worse. I did leave him… but he shamed me into going back.”
Hillary Adams, now 23, said she had forgiven her mother and did not regret making the video public. It has been viewed more than a million times.
“We’re very close now,” Hillary Adams said.
Speaking to the Today show, Hillary Adams said: “I told him I had the video… and he dared me to post it.”
Judge William Adams, who presides mainly over cases involving children, remained unrepentant.
The judge released a three-page statement earlier this month, saying his daughter posted the clip to get back at him for telling her he would be reducing the amount of financial support he gives her and taking away her Mercedes.
William Adams’ statement did not include an apology for the beating, but he told Corpus Christi television station KZTV that the video “looks worse than it is”, that he had already apologized to his daughter and that he was just disciplining his child for stealing.
Hillary Adams, who has suffered from ataxic cerebral palsy from birth, said her condition causes problems including difficulty with balance, shaky movements of hands or feet, and difficulty with speech.
She was asked by the Today Show how she felt about the ordeal she had suffered now.
Hillary Adams said: “I’ve experienced everything from crying about it to laughing.”
“It did happen regularly for a period of time, and I could tell because of the pattern that things were escalating again, so I set up my video camera on the dresser and covered the little red light with a scarf.
“About half an hour after I set the camera up this happened and it was amazing that I was able to capture such a thing.”
Hillary Adams explained that she waited seven years to release the video because she feared.
Hallie Adams said: “I was completely brainwashed and controlled. I did every single thing that he did. When I leave the room he is telling me what to say, what to do.”
The video, entitled “Family law judge beats own daughter for using the internet, please spread”, shows the motive for the attack was because Hillary Adams, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had been caught downloading music to the computer in her bedroom.
In the footage, Judge William 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.
On the seven-minute long clip, as 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.”
In total Hillary Adams received 20 hard lashes from her father and one from her mother.
The mother screams: “You turn over like a 16-year-old and take it like a grown woman.”
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?
“You don’t deserve to be in this f***ing house. What happened to you Hillary?”
The video appeared to have been captured on a webcam set up in the bedroom and dates from 2004 but only became public on October 27, 2011.
Judge William Adams said that he informed the Judicial Review board himself after seeing the video had been posted online by his daughter.
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