What's the matter with Texas? by gimleteye

Paternalism, Texas-style.

Warning: some viewers may find the graphic content in the video distressing

The nearly eight-minute video, which has been viewed more than one million times since it was uploaded last week, shows County Court Judge William Adams lashing his then-16-year-old daughter Hillary in the legs more than a dozen times and growing increasingly irate while she screams and refuses to turn over on a bed to be beaten.

"Lay down or I'll spank you in your (expletive) face," Adams screams. His daughter, Hillary, who suffers from ataxic cerebral palsy, wails and pleads for him to stop.

(Click read more for the full story reprinted from the UK Telegraph. But you might first want to watch this parody from youtube.)

The 51-year-old judge, who handles child abuse cases among others, told television station KZTV that the video "looks worse than it is", and that he didn’t expect any legal action to be taken against him.

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

Reached at her mother's home in Portland, Texas, Miss Adams told The Associated Press that her father became irate after she was caught illegally downloading content from the Internet.

She said she felt some regret over posting the video because she said she didn’t want to see her father punished, but hoped it will spur him to seek help.

"He's supposed to be a judge who exercises fit judgment," she said.

Adams has received threatening phone calls and faxes as the 2004 video went viral.

"People are upset, understandably upset. But emotions can't really run this thing," said Sheriff Bill Mills.

Police were first alerted by members of the public who viewed the video, but have not yet determined if it shows criminal behaviour. The lines between child abuse and acceptable level of discipline differs in various parts of the country.

A neighbour said on Wednesday that she saw Adams packing up to leave with bags, a briefcase, clothes and rifles, which his girlfriend carried to the truck.

A secretary for William Adams' lawyer, William Dudley, said that his client was unavailable for comment.

In the video, Adams is apparently unaware the camera is on when he enters the room, turns off the light and tries forcing his daughter onto the bed to be beaten.

"Go get the belt. The big one. I'm going to spank her now," Adams is heard saying in the clip's opening seconds.

A few minutes into the video, a woman appears and barks at the girl to "turn over like a 16-year-old and take it! Like a grown woman!" For about a minute, the ordeal appears to have ended after both adults leave the room and shut the door. But the judge then storms back into the room and the beating resumes.

Miss Adams said she set up the camera because she knew "something was about to happen". Toward the end of the video, her father shouts that he plans to beat the girl "into submission" and rants about having a computer in the house and the problems it causes. The video ends with the adult woman telling her to leave the room and sleep on the sofa.

Adams dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking to determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.

Texas' Department of Family and Protective Services is aware of the video and "will take the appropriate steps in this matter," agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said in an email.

Children's advocates roundly condemned the beating as abuse. However, investigators may decide that the judge's actions, while shocking to many, weren't criminal.

The use of objects such as belts and sticks is however usually seen as beyond any normal physical punishment, said David Finkelhor, head of the Crimes against Children Research Centre at the University of New Hampshire sociology professor.

Jim Hopper, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and a child abuse expert, said there is no doubt that the judge's actions crossed the line.

"This is an act of brutal violence," Hopper said.

"To beat someone into submission is not discipline. To beat a child into submission makes it harder for that child to take in rules and the values that the parent believes they are imposing on the child."

Miss Adams' parents divorced in 2007 after 22 years of marriage, according to court records. The divorce petition states that "the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities," but a counter-petition filed by Adams' ex-wife states that the divorce was filed under grounds of "mental cruelty".

Court records show that the couple had another daughter who was six at the time.