The Associated Press has a long followup on the story of Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams, whose daughter Hillary posted a seven-year-old video of her father viciously beating her for breaking a rule over using a computer at home. The judge has acknowledged that the video is real, and that he is the aggressor in the assault.
Local law enforcement says that they believe that the video depicts a serious crime, but as the statute of limitations has passed, they have not arrested the judge. The judge has been suspended from the bench while his conduct is investigated by the Texas judicial conduct commission and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
The judge claims that his daughter posted the video as retaliation after he cut her off financially following a fight over her decision to “‘drop out,’ and strive to achieve no more in life than to work part time at a video game store” that culminated with his taking away of her “Mercedes automobile.”
Hillary Adams has not responded to the allegation, but rather discusses her father’s history of abuse and her desire that he would seek help. Her mother — divorced from the judge — describes the father as having an unspecified “addition” problem (presumably the AP means “addiction”).
Hillary Adams said she waited so long to expose her father because she was terrified at what might have happened had she done so while still living under his roof. She said the outpouring of support and encouragement she’s received since posting the clip is tempered by the sadness that it’s her father repeatedly lashing her with a belt and threatening to beat her “into submission.”
During an interview with her mother Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show, Hillary Adams said her father regularly beat her for a period of time. has repeatedly said she didn’t post the clip to spite her father, and that she hopes it forces him to seek help.
Her mother blamed her ex-husband’s bouts of violence on an “addition.” She called it a “family secret,” but declined to elaborate.