Sometime in 2004, William Adams found out that his daughter Hillary, 16, had been using the computer to download music and games that were not yet legally available for download. He grabbed his belt, and told his daughter to bend over the bed. When she didn’t, he beat her on the legs.
There are a couple points that make this case a little different, though. The first is that William Adams was (and still is) a judge in Aransas County, Texas. Among his responsibilities was the hearing of cases involving child abuse. The second thing is that his daughter recorded the whole episode on a hidden camera. The video lasts about 7 1/2 minutes, and shows the severity of the beating Hillary received, in addition to the language used by the judge while beating his daughter.
Since the video was made public, it has gone viral. The repost on YouTube has received over 2,000,000 hits, and outraged viewers have been hammering Aransas County officials to file formal charges against a man who, days ago, would have been responsible for hearing just such a case.
Disciplining a child is every parents responsibility. There are as many different opinions on how to properly do this as there are parents, and while the debate rages over whether it is ever appropriate to spank a child, what happened between William and his daughter clearly crossed the line. Already, the dishonoured judge has been temporarily relieved of his duties while a visiting judge will take over his responsibilities. The outpouring of public support has been huge. All that is left to be seen is the outcome in the days ahead.
