Judge Beats Daughter

Hillary Adams, daughter of Texas judge William Adams, says she feels some regret about uploading a video of her father belting her but that she hopes it forces him to get help.

The Texas judge who gives his daughter a savage beating in an internet video viewed more than 2m times will not face police charges but has stopped presiding over child abuse cases.

Hillary Adams, who uploaded the video showing the 2004 beating, went on television in the US to explain why she had done it, saying the beatings happened often when she was young.

Adams, now 23, said she had received an outpouring of support and encouragement since posting the video last week. But her feelings were tempered by the sadness that her father lashed her 17 times with a belt after threatening to beat her "into submission".

Adams, 51. likely would have been charged with causing injury to a child or other assault-related offences for the 2004 beating of his then 16-year-old daughter but the five-year statute of limitations had expired, said Tim Jayroe, police chief in Adams's town of Rockport. "We believe that there was a criminal offence involved and that there was substantial evidence to indicate that and under normal circumstances ... a charge could have been made," Jayroe said.

He said the district attorney determined he could not bring charges. Police would discuss the case with federal prosecutors even though he did not believe federal charges would apply.

Speaking to the Associated Press outside her mother's home in the Gulf coast town of Portland, near Corpus Christi, Hillary Adams said: "I'm experiencing some regret because I just pulled the covers off my own father's misbehaviour after so many people thought he was such a good person … But so many people are also telling me I did the right thing.

In an interview with NBC's Today Show on Thursday she said the attack was not a one-off. "It did happen regularly for a period of time," she said.

In the same interview her mother, Hallie Adams, blamed her ex-husband's bouts of violence on his "addiction," calling it a "family secret". Their 22-year marriage ended in 2007.

Corpus Christi television station KZTV caught up with the judge while he was getting into his vehicle on Wednesday and he confirmed it was him in the video. But he said it "looks worse than it is" and that he did not expect to be disciplined.

"In my mind I haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," Adams said. "And I did lose my temper but I've since apologised."

When told of her father's comments Hillary Adams said: "It's a shining perfect example of his personality and he believes he can do no wrong … He will cover up rather than admit to what he did and try to come clean."

As Aransas county's top judge Adams has dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year alone, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.

County officials confirmed that Adams would not hear cases related to child protection for at least the next two weeks. The top county administrator cast doubt on whether Adams could credibly return to the bench. "I would think it would be very difficult," said Judge CH "Burt" Mills Jr. "Personally I don't see how he can recover from this."

If a judicial commission doesn't lead to punishment or charges Adams could be safe on the bench until he is up for re-election in three years.

Hillary Adams stressed that she did not post the video as revenge and did not want her father punished. Rather, she did it to try and force him to seek help, and because he had been harassing her and she thought the clip would make him stop.

Hillary said she secretly videotaped the beating in her bedroom because she "knew something was about to happen." She says her parents were angry at her for using her computer to download pirated content over the internet.

In the clip's opening seconds, William Adams is heard telling Hillary's mother, "Go get the belt. The big one. I'm going to spank her now." With belt in hand, he turns off the light and tries forcing his daughter to bend over the bed to be beaten, but she refuses.

"Lay down or I'll spank you in your fucking face," Adams screams while he lashes her with sweeping blows across the legs, ignoring her wails and pleas for him to stop.

Child advocates roundly condemned the beating as abuse. But investigators may decide that the judge's actions, while shocking, weren't criminal.

David Finkelhor, a University of New Hampshire sociology professor who heads the school's Crimes Against Children Research Center, said the lines between what is deemed child abuse and what is considered an acceptable level of discipline differ across the country and among various social groups, though the use of objects such as belts and sticks is usually seen as beyond any normal physical punishment.

Patrick Crimmins, a spokesman for the state Department of Family and Protective Services, said in an email that the agency is aware of the video and "will take the appropriate steps in this matter." He said the agency would have no further comment.

Adams's lawyer, William Dudley, said in a written statement that Hillary Adams's explantion of her decision to share the video "have been confusing and hollow ... Very few people find palatable her claim that it was to 'help' her father."

Before the video's release William Adams had threatened to stop supporting her financially because of her lack of achievement in her work and studies. "Hillary warned her father if he reduced her financial support and took away her Mercedes automobile, which her father had provided, he would live to regret it," Dudley said. "The post was then uploaded."

"Judge Adams is confident that when the dust settles and international media attention has passed ... it will be concluded that Hillary Adams's actions in 2011 were misguided and misleading."