Family Law Judge Beats Daughter for Using Internet

[flourbug]

This video is just getting publicity. It happened in 2004. His daughter (the victim) is just publishing it now, inspired by a Facebook movement to get the Family Law judge removed from the bench.

Caution, this is a very disturbing video.

The fact that this man presided over other families, and used his (clear lack of) judgment to rule over other children as well as his own, is sickening. We wish them luck in removing this monster from any position of authority. He should be cleaning toilets in a subway, not sitting on the bench in a courthouse.

[MDINMT]

Just WOW!
This guy is a judge? Needs to do a bit of time for assault himself.

[Potemkin]

Mother has to take some responsibility for this.

I read that she is getting covered because she was being abused also, she has repented, all of that.

If the victim cool with that historical revisionism then that is her prerogative, but Mother took an active part and got in a few licks herself.

She could have bugged out. She could have called the police. She could have called child welfare.

Heck she could have sat there and done nothing.

[Potemkin]

BTW

Abuse does not include reasonable discipline by a parent/guardian/managing or possessory conservator if child not exposed to substantial risk of harm.
Family Code § 261.001. [Civil Code]

Parent/stepparent/person standing in loco parentis to child is justified to use non-deadly force against a child under 18 when and to degree the actor reasonably believes necessary to discipline, or safeguard or promote child's welfare.
Penal § 9.61. [Criminal Code]

So, no charges as you couldn't meet the elements of the crime.

[flourbug]

Excuse me?

1. This CHILD has cerebral palsy. ie, brain damaged at birth. What is the extent of her developmental disability? Is she only physically disabled or mentally disabled too? There's a whole different set of rules when it comes to reasonable discipline for a child (which NEVER includes beating legs, back, arms and buttocks with a belt while in a fit of anger) and beating a disabled child. Beating a disabled child is a CRIME.

2. She was punished in this extreme manner for going on the internet. The Luddite parents were angered she was "stealing" games from the internet. Was she playing Solitaire? Was she on something like our Arcade? Did she visit one of the many sites that allow you to download games and play them on your computer? I could see removing internet privileges for pirating games, but beating for using the internet - no way. That is abuse.

3. The father CLEARLY got off on beating his child. This was a power play that anyone who has ever been the victim of familial abuse recognizes quite clearly. "Look at what YOU did to make me mad." He is not to blame for his anger and violence, the CHILD is to blame. "Get on your stomach like a grown woman!" Is that what this poor excuse for a father is teaching his daughter a "grown woman" is supposed to do - get on their stomach on a bed and take a beating by a domineering and powerful male?

Potemkin, THIS is what child abuse looks like. Make no excuses for it. This video is damning and the scumbag with the belt needs to be punished to the full extent of the law and serve as an example for anyone who would dare attempt the same.

[flourbug]

Some are saying Judge Adam's daughter's facebook and reddit accounts were hacked after the YT video was posted.

http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments...used_daughter/

[Potemkin]

Originally Posted by flourbug

Excuse me?

1. This CHILD has cerebral palsy. ie, brain damaged at birth. What is the extent of her developmental disability? Is she only physically disabled or mentally disabled too? There's a whole different set of rules when it comes to reasonable discipline for a child (which NEVER includes beating legs, back, arms and buttocks with a belt while in a fit of anger) and beating a disabled child. Beating a disabled child is a CRIME.

2. She was punished in this extreme manner for going on the internet. The Luddite parents were angered she was "stealing" games from the internet. Was she playing Solitaire? Was she on something like our Arcade? Did she visit one of the many sites that allow you to download games and play them on your computer? I could see removing internet privileges for pirating games, but beating for using the internet - no way. That is abuse.

3. The father CLEARLY got off on beating his child. This was a power play that anyone who has ever been the victim of familial abuse recognizes quite clearly. "Look at what YOU did to make me mad." He is not to blame for his anger and violence, the CHILD is to blame. "Get on your stomach like a grown woman!" Is that what this poor excuse for a father is teaching his daughter a "grown woman" is supposed to do - get on their stomach on a bed and take a beating by a domineering and powerful male?

Potemkin, THIS is what child abuse looks like. Make no excuses for it. This video is damning and the scumbag with the belt needs to be punished to the full extent of the law and serve as an example for anyone who would dare attempt the same.

Which posting?

You are jumping to conclusion or looking for a strawman because of the rage you feel for this man?

I said nothing that justified his actions or made excuse for him.

Please point out where I did so.

I was pointing out Texas law and the probably outcome.

Are we now required to provide affirmative statements of positions just to be on the "right side"?

[flourbug]

You are jumping to conclusion or looking for a strawman because of the rage you feel for this man?

Neither.

You quoted a statute that says: "Abuse does not include reasonable discipline" What showed on the video was not reasonable discipline. Here's a test: replace the child with one of your Rotties. Would the SAME beating you saw the judge give his daughter be reasonable discipline if applied to your pet if you found them doing something you didn't like?

But more than the laws you quote come into play here. As I tried to lay out above, the father is not disciplining a normal child for a serious infraction. I broke that down into the three main points: 1. discipline is not abuse and vice versa. Discipline is a loving act that guides our children to conform to social norms. Beatings to show them who is boss or inflict punishment for making us mad is abuse. 2. This child self identifies as developmentally disabled and says that due to her disability she is attracted to technology. Of course she is. The internet gives her a social outlet where she is accepted. Her disability is not as apparent online as it is in real life. Rather than support her adaptation to the world around her, the father is viciously punishing her. He demands she use the computer ONLY for schoolwork. This shows an appalling lack of understanding of his child's disability and needs. It goes beyond neglect. He is an unfit parent. 3. The child was supplied with a computer with an internet connection, then she was beaten for using it. That is not reasonable. The father is the poster boy for a chronic abuser. The words that come out of his mouth are a playbook for every spouse and child abuser on the planet: It is YOUR fault I am mad. You MADE me beat you. SUBMIT to my dominance. TAKE my beatings without complaint. Make it EASY for me to abuse you. He leaves us with no doubt this is not the first time, nor the last time, he abused his family - but that this is standard operating procedure for him.

The video documents something that happened seven years ago. There's a statute of limitations for almost all crimes except murder, and the child in question is now an adult and no longer living at home. I expect Judge Adams to be removed for moral terpitude. He is unfit to serve as a judge and I expect he will be disbarred as well. But unless there is a very strong, hot spotlight on this issue when it comes to a trial and sentencing, I would not expect any real punishment at all from the courts. One judge is not going to send another to jail for beating their own child. He may get a lecture from the bench, or be ordered into community service, but he will not see the inside of a jail.

There is a huge injustice here, not just in his own family, but exposing this judge raises issues about the cases that have come before him in court. Has he sent children back into abusive homes? In cases of divorce has he removed children from the normal parent to deliver them into the clutches of a psychopathic parent like himself? This man has had the opportunity to destroy lives. They need to go back, and find out just how much damage he has done in Texas.

[Sonny]

"It had happened before, and had been escalating," Adams said. "I set up a camera, and I caught it."


Adams says she was downloading music from a peer-to-peer networking site, something she says her father had forbidden, before the incident happened.


"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 said.


Adams says the abuse happened for years, but she never thought it was unusual.


"I thought abuse at some level was normal," Adams said.

[BoneDaddy]

had to respond to this....

Originally Posted by flourbug

He demands she use the computer ONLY for schoolwork. This shows an appalling lack of understanding of his child's disability and needs.

Uh....no. Internet access is a privilege unless you are paying for it yourself. While I agree that the guy's response was excessive and abusive, I disagree that access to the computer and in particular "social networking" is somehow a "right" due to her "needs."

Additionally, the video, nor related stories, indicate "what" she downloaded, installed or played on the computer. I am still looking for it.

With respect to efforts to remove the judge.....contacting other elected officials such as has been suggested (Mayor in particular) is silly as he has no jurisdiction over the matter. Only the district attorney can prefer charges against this guy and / or remove him from office. Considering that DA's generally protect all their cronies.....I doubt that will happen unless the Chief of Police forces the issue (by going after the DA) through the DA in Austin.

Remember, the DA controls what goes to the grand jury.

[Sonny]

There are multiple updates to this story. Please click here to get the latest information.

Judge William Adams Responds To Videotaped Beating,"It wasn't as bad as it seemed on the tape" and "I apologized"

[flourbug]

Uh....no. Internet access is a privilege unless you are paying for it yourself. While I agree that the guy's response was excessive and abusive, I disagree that access to the computer and in particular "social networking" is somehow a "right" due to her "needs."

I didn't say it was a "right". A deaf child does not have a right to a hearing aid, a visually impaired child does not have a "right" to corrective eyewear, a child with a cleft palate does not have a "right" to corrective surgery.

Parenting is more than providing "rights". It is nurturing a child with whatever they need to reach their fullest potential.

Does a computer fall into that category for a child with Cerebral Palsy? Not only do I think so, every single facility for people with CP that I have ever seen thinks it is essential. Some have huge state of the art computer facilities where they teach not only basic skills and common programs, but have forums and chatrooms and MMORPG games where students participate.

Being with "your own kind" is just fine and dandy, but the fact is, even people who have severe disabilities do not want to be limited to interacting ONLY with other people who have severe disabilities.

The internet is the great equalizer. You don't know if my nose is too big or my face is covered with pimples or I have bad fashion sense. You might shun me in real life, but you'll talk to me online - because the only thing that counts is my ability to articulate my thoughts.

Social inclusion is important to everyone. It is VITAL to a disabled teenager.

As to what she downloaded... I don't know. It doesn't matter. Ever hear of "attractive nuisance"? If you put a swimming pool in your back yard and a child comes along on a hot day and drowns, you can be held responsible. You should have KNOWN a swimming pool would attract a child and put a fence up to keep them out. Mommy and Daddy put a computer in their child's room - not in the living room where they could supervise her activities - and they hooked it up to the internet - and surely by 2004 their Father the Judge had to know about the dangers unsupervised access to the internet presented to children. The parents put this in her bedroom. Then they beat her for doing what every child in the world would do with internet access - find games to play.

[Sonny]

Two weeks ago, before the video surfaced, users on the (not always dependable) community discussion site Topix alleged that Adams was known locally for being soft on child abusers.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_te...r_is_inte.html

[jane333]

I'm not going to apologize for the parents, but I'm not going to malign their decisions, either. We don't know their situation. They look like they've had enough and need someplace for the daughter to be in a locked facility/group home so they can have a break. FWIW, spanking with a belt used to be ordinary punishment even tho most of us would never do it. It didn't look very painful through her pajama pants as her crying stopped almost immediately. She seemed mostly mad, resistant and scared, not hurt.

I truly wonder how many spankings the girl would have received if she'd simply turned around and held still, as instructed. One? Two?

Both parents seemed cool, in control and deliberate, on the same page as far as discipline (not letting the daughter play them off each other), angry but reasonable. In contrast, there's something truly disturbing about a 16 year old who sneaks around to set up a video camera to capture her parents disciplining her.

At the end of the tape the parents move her to another room to sleep. This is a red flag. This means that she has misbehaved seriously in the middle of the night in the past. Destroyed her room? Made phone calls? Sneaked out the window? A parent with a kid who has not developed a conscience must make decisions on the fly, to adapt to new situations. It's the hardest job an adult can ever have. I know. I had two kids who stole, lied, ran away, and got in with druggie friends. One was finally lured by a predator online, an illegal alien who convinced her at age 17 to commit marriage fraud in his behalf. The other died at age 16.

[flourbug]

jane333, I am sorry about your children. No parent should suffer the heartache you have.

I do not see any indication Hillary Adams was a problem child. I don't see any basis for your assumptions or suggestion she may need to be placed in a locked facility or group home.

She is now 23. She comes across as intelligent and articulate in her comments. She has a deviant art page with her cartoons, and a youtube page going back to 2007 where she has favorited dozens of videos - most of them humorous videos of puppies and kittens and birds.

She states that her father had been abusing her and it was getting worse. THAT is why she video taped him. If she had made the tape public in 2004 - and she had every reason to - her father would probably not just lose his job as a judge, he could have been disbarred as well. She did not release the tape until now, a week before the election that would keep him on the bench, because she did not want him re-elected. As Sonny points out, he's been accused of being lax with abusive parents. Those are not just words - there are real children involved, and real abuse. I think she's a very brave young woman.

[flourbug]

Hillary Adams

[linttrap]

I have a serious issue with people that think children should just stand still and take a beating, and this was clearly a beating.

If you are a healthy parent raising a healthy child, you understand that teaching your child to lay down and get beat is not a healthy lesson for them.

This is especially heinous with girl children who are then set up to become abused wives who see nothing wrong with forcing a child to be "obedient" and passive the way she was taught to be. These girls grow up to be women who allow not only themselves to be abused, but also their children.

They also become the girls and women who have been taught they are to roll over and not fight off a rapist/murderer. An adult with healthy self esteem automatically does everything to preserve their own life, using reasoning, strength, whatever defense they can muster, instead of giving up/giving in.

This is a very screwed up man who is doing everything he can to screw up his daughter. Admirably, she has resisted and bided her time and now, when it counts, she can expose him for the monster he is. Kudos to her!

[Catbird]

I saw a number of things in this video that disturb me. First is the beating itself. It was a beating, not a spanking, and there is a world of difference between the two. Another issue for me is her age. If a parent has to spank a 16 year old, the battle has already been lost. Parental discipline is still needed and appropriate for teenagers but, in our society, a 16 year old is a young adult and corporal punishment at that age is inappropriate and ineffective.

At one point the father left and returned later with a second belt. He said something to the effect that he didn't get his chance to beat her (I don't recall the exact quote). To me, this is a signal that this is not about 2 parents working in concert to impose discipline. Rather, it is about the father who is determined to beat his daughter until he is satisfied.

Another thing that really bothered me was the father saying, "You don't deserve to be in this house". That is wrong on so many levels that it's hard to know where to begin.

As to why they sent her to sleep in another room, that may have been part of the "punishment" as the mother said something about her having to sleep on the couch. It may also have been to keep her away from the computer that was in that room.

This was not a spanking, it was a beating. This isn't discipline, it's abuse.

[jane333]

flourbug,

There's no way to judge the extent of another person's personality, mental state, or criminal behavior from a blog, a facebook page or, worse, a photo or video. As for whether it was the dad's behavior that had gotten worse, or the daughter's, there's two sides to every story.

A group home/treatment facility for troubled teens must be responsible for its charges 24 hours a day; it's typically locked for the safety of the kids in treatment there. My daughter spent three days in a detention/treatment facility at age 17, and I would have been shocked if the minor children were allowed to leave without a parent's permission. She also had normal teen interests...painting and drawing, making beaded jewelry, shopping, playing video games, and doing her hair and makeup. She had fun with us gardening and going on trips in the old Model T's, riding bikes, baking cookies and making crepes, writing stories about how much she loved us, her family. None of that mattered when she was struck with the adolescent onset of bipolar and, frankly, lost her mind.

This girl's parents know who she is inside, and what she put them through. I'm glad that she's turned her life around and is a productive individual, if that's the case. The fact that she's now seeking revenge against her dad is more telling than the video, tho, imo. I have no doubt that we will never know all the details, but that the story will be sensationalized by both those for and against corporal punishment.

[BoneDaddy]

Originally Posted by flourbug

I didn't say it was a "right". A deaf child does not have a right to a hearing aid, a visually impaired child does not have a "right" to corrective eyewear, a child with a cleft palate does not have a "right" to corrective surgery.

Parenting is more than providing "rights". It is nurturing a child with whatever they need to reach their fullest potential.

Parenting is teaching your child to be self sufficient in a cruel and unforgiving world and providing them with the intellect and ability to defend their own rights as an adult. Providing children with "whatever they need to reach their fullest potential" is simply feel good nonsense imposed upon us by a liberal society that doesn't believe that people should be responsible for their actions.

Does a computer fall into that category for a child with Cerebral Palsy? Not only do I think so, every single facility for people with CP that I have ever seen thinks it is essential.

But it isn't about "what you think." Your opinions about material goods do not supersede parental rights. Anyone who thinks that computers are "necessary" obviously did not grow up prior to their proliferation into society.

The internet is the great equalizer. You don't know if my nose is too big or my face is covered with pimples or I have bad fashion sense. You might shun me in real life, but you'll talk to me online - because the only thing that counts is my ability to articulate my thoughts.

Social inclusion is important to everyone. It is VITAL to a disabled teenager.

Are you suggesting that parents should be forced to provide internet access to teenagers?

As to what she downloaded... I don't know. It doesn't matter.

Uhh....yes it does because the NET act can place severe criminal and financial liability not only on the child....but the parent. Piracy is a crime regardless of if there is a financial motive.

Mommy and Daddy put a computer in their child's room - not in the living room where they could supervise her activities - and they hooked it up to the internet - and surely by 2004 their Father the Judge had to know about the dangers unsupervised access to the internet presented to children. The parents put this in her bedroom. Then they beat her for doing what every child in the world would do with internet access - find games to play.

Oh....so if there is a lighter in the home we should be surprised if little johnny sets the house on fire? Reminds me about when Mike Judge got sued because a failure of a mother claimed that Buthead's "fire, fire, fire" encouraged her kid to set the sofa on fire. Bullsh*t.

Again...I neither condone, believe the man to be reasonable in his actions. At the same time I am not sure that the child needed "not" be punished. Was the punishment over the top? I believe so. But to suggest that a kid has to have internet access is bologna.

[dyrt]

Originally Posted by jane333

I'm not going to apologize for the parents, but I'm not going to malign their decisions, either. We don't know their situation. They look like they've had enough and need someplace for the daughter to be in a locked facility/group home so they can have a break. FWIW, spanking with a belt used to be ordinary punishment even tho most of us would never do it. It didn't look very painful through her pajama pants as her crying stopped almost immediately. She seemed mostly mad, resistant and scared, not hurt.

I truly wonder how many spankings the girl would have received if she'd simply turned around and held still, as instructed. One? Two?

Both parents seemed cool, in control and deliberate, on the same page as far as discipline (not letting the daughter play them off each other), angry but reasonable. In contrast, there's something truly disturbing about a 16 year old who sneaks around to set up a video camera to capture her parents disciplining her.

That's weird. You said you were not going to apologize for the parents but in the next paragraph you make up excuses for them.

At the end of the tape the parents move her to another room to sleep. This is a red flag. This means that she has misbehaved seriously in the middle of the night in the past. Destroyed her room? Made phone calls? Sneaked out the window? A parent with a kid who has not developed a conscience must make decisions on the fly, to adapt to new situations.

You said you were not going to malign the parents but you sure did not mind making up some crap to malign the young girl.

[linttrap]

When asked if he thought the conduct in the video was excessive, Judge Adams said, "It's not as bad as it looks on tape."

One of the comments on that page in response to this was:

"Prison Rape - Not as bad as it looks on tape."

There is NO way this video could be viewed as appropriate and the fact that he still seems to think his response was reasonable says it all for me.

[dyrt]

Originally Posted by linttrap

When asked if he thought the conduct in the video was excessive, Judge Adams said, "It's not as bad as it looks on tape."

One of the comments on that page in response to this was:

"Prison Rape - Not as bad as it looks on tape."

There is NO way this video could be viewed as appropriate and the fact that he still seems to think his response was reasonable says it all for me.

Yeah I guess it depends on one's perspective. If you are swinging the belt, it does not seem bad at all.

[Feather]

Originally Posted by jane333

At the end of the tape the parents move her to another room to sleep. This is a red flag. This means that she has misbehaved seriously in the middle of the night in the past. Destroyed her room? Made phone calls? Sneaked out the window? A parent with a kid who has not developed a conscience must make decisions on the fly, to adapt to new situations. It's the hardest job an adult can ever have. I know. I had two kids who stole, lied, ran away, and got in with druggie friends. One was finally lured by a predator online, an illegal alien who convinced her at age 17 to commit marriage fraud in his behalf. The other died at age 16.

I am so sorry for your loss and I am very surprised that I have not lost one of mine. Mine pulled the same things you listed. One of them was put in a locked facility several times and ended up at one of the acadamys we have here. The acadamys are like prisons for kids. He went for beating up his friend over a girl and for skipping school. He's here in town but I haven't seen him in 6 years, his wife does not allow it.

My older son lives with a cousin and he has his own set of problems complicated by ADHD and Aspergers.

Like you said, we don't know what the daughter has done but it's still wrong to beat her. No matter how much they push, poke, lie, cheat or steal, there's no reason to beat them. There are other ways to punish them

I believe beating leads to beating, the father may have been abused as a child and thinks, in some twisted way, it's normal. His education should have taught him that it is wrong. Who knows why some people do what they do.

[flourbug]

Originally Posted by BoneDaddy

Parenting is teaching your child to be self sufficient in a cruel and unforgiving world and providing them with the intellect and ability to defend their own rights as an adult. Providing children with "whatever they need to reach their fullest potential" is simply feel good nonsense imposed upon us by a liberal society that doesn't believe that people should be responsible for their actions.

You're swallowing too many rote memes. "Fullest potential" means obtaining the highest level of ability so they are CAPABLE of being "self sufficient in a cruel and unforgiving world" and possessing "the intellect and ability to defend their own rights as an adult". Try driving across country on half a tank of gas. No matter how much you beat your car, it's not going to make it.

But it isn't about "what you think." Your opinions about material goods do not supersede parental rights. Anyone who thinks that computers are "necessary" obviously did not grow up prior to their proliferation into society.

I am not "Anyone". I may have grown up with slide rules and marble note pads, but that did not stop me from embracing the technology or recognizing its potential.

Are you suggesting that parents should be forced to provide internet access to teenagers?

No.

Uhh....yes it does because the NET act can place severe criminal and financial liability not only on the child....but the parent. Piracy is a crime regardless of if there is a financial motive

I do not think an adult male is justified in beating a disabled 16 year old girl with a belt for seven minutes FOR ANY REASON.

Oh....so if there is a lighter in the home we should be surprised if little johnny sets the house on fire?

Strawman.

If parents give their little johnny a lighter, put him in his bedroom, and leave him alone to play with the lighter, yeah... he's gonna set the house on fire and it's no one's fault but the stupidass parents.

Children should be supervised when they use a computer. That means, it should be in a high traffic area in the home and parents should look over their shoulders and have full access to emails, IM logs, etc. If you put a computer with internet access in a child's bedroom and close the door, they WILL use it to explore and they WILL be exposed to activities and ideas that they are not able to fully understand. That is not the child's fault. That is the parents fault.

Again...I neither condone, believe the man to be reasonable in his actions. At the same time I am not sure that the child needed "not" be punished. Was the punishment over the top? I believe so. But to suggest that a kid has to have internet access is bologna.

I never said "a kid" has to have internet access.

I said, a disabled teenage girl will find social acceptance online that simply is not available to her in real life.