After a Year of Paid Leave, Texas Judge in Viral YouTube Video Posted By Daughter Returns to Bench
Recently reinstated by the Texas Supreme Court after a year of paid leave, a controversial Aransas County judge is about to go back on the bench.
County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams is expected to be hearing cases again by Wednesday, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reports. He was suspended after a YouTube video posted by his now-adult daughter went viral, bringing to public attention a years-ago incident in which her father struck her repeatedly with a belt.
Adams won’t be presiding over matters in which violence against children is at issue, if they were brought by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, because it has requested another judge.
However, a court clerk, Pam Heard, said concerns that the video would result in multiple appeals of the judge’s cases haven’t materialized. “Judge Adams’ rulings are probably some of the least appealed in our area,” she told the newspaper.
His daughter, Hillary Adams, was critical of her father’s return to work as a judge. In a Friday appearance on the Jane Velez-Mitchell show on HLN, of which CNN provides a transcript, she described herself as “unimaginably upset and hurt” about the reinstatement.
“It’s not only about me, my mother and my sister,” she said. “This is about every person in the world who has been treated as subhuman by an abuser.”
The judge hasn’t commented publicly about the video, but his lawyers have said in court that his ex-wife has spoken out against him as part of an effort to wrest custody of their youngest daughter from him. They also contended the older daughter, Hillary Adams, was angry about losing financial support from her father, the Caller-Times reported.
The Associated Press also has a story and a previous Associated Press article provides additional details.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “After Viral YouTube Video Shows Texas Judge Beating Teen Daughter, Probes and Public Outrage”
ABAJournal.com: “Ethics Panel Issues ‘Public Warning’ to Judge Shown Beating Daughter on Viral Video”
ABAJournal.com: “Family Court Judge Who Hit Teen Daughter with Belt in Viral YouTube Video Might Go Back on Bench”