Charges 'Unlikely' for Texas Judge Caught Beating Daughter on Tape?
The video of a Texas judge beating his daughter with a leather belt for several minutes has gone viral, outraging observers who are calling the video a sick display of child abuse. However, despite local police saying they are investigating the matter, "nothing" will happen to the judge, according to a criminal defense attorney who works in the area.
Rockport, Texas-based attorney Terry Collins described the video of Judge William Adams beating his daughter for downloading games off the Internet as "shocking."
"In my opinion, it definitely exceeded the line," Collins told The Christian Post. "Unfortunately, nothing will come of it because it exceeds the statute of limitations," he added, saying that for cases of child abuse, such as the one depicted in the video, the statute of limitations of 5 years.
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The video was made in 2004, but not uploaded onto YouTube until earlier this week.
Although Collins believes that Adams will not face criminal charges, the criminal defense attorney predicts the judge will suffer career setbacks as a result of the video.
"It's the number one topic down here and everybody's talking about it," Collins said. "It will definitely effect [Adam's] re-election. Most definitely."
When asked about Adams' reputation as a judge, Collins said, "I've heard it goes both ways. But the video will change that."
In addition to possibly having an effect on Adams' career, Internet users have been on a crusade of sorts to "punish" Adams themselves. At least two Facebook pages have been created, one titled "Don't re-elect Judge William Adams" and and the other titled "Prosecute Judge William Adams."
Over 6,000 people have "liked" the "Don't Re-elect Jusge William Adams" page and the comments have become an outlet of rage against the Aransas County judge.
"Don't re-elect? It should be don't allow this person to live anywhere near you or your children," commented Rene Caron.
This is pure EVIL. This is child abuse," said Denise Fletcher Yeagin. "This had nothing to do with punishing a child. Hope he goes to prison for child abuse but probably nothing will happen to him. He will answer to God, his creator, one day for this evil."
There have also been reports of people flooding the Aransas courthouse with angry phone calls, as well as people ordering pizzas to Adams' home, the address of which has been posted online on several sites, including the Facebook pages.
"My father's harassment was getting really bad, so I decided to finally publish the video that I had been sitting on for 7 years," Adams' daughter, Hillary, told KRIS-TV.
Despite the online outrage, Adams told KRIS-TV in a separate article he did nothing wrong.
When asked if he felt he was going to face any suspension or discipline from the state over the video Adams responded, "In my mind I have not done anything wrong other than discipline my child when she was caught stealing. I did lose my temper, I've apologized... it looks worse than it is."
