Video beating judge seeks return to bench

• Tweet

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A Texas judge suspended after an online video showed him whipping his daughter has agreed not to appeal a warning on his conduct as he seeks reinstatement.

Aransas County Court-at Law Judge William Adams was suspended with pay in November 2011 after a video posted online showed him beating his daughter, then 16, in 2004, apparently because she disobeyed his orders on downloading file-sharing content to her computer.

The video shows Adams hitting his daughter at least 19 times with a belt, forcing her to bend over on her bed, threatening at one point to smack her in the face and saying he will "beat you into submission."

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended Adams and issued a warning on his conduct.

In a motion filed Wednesday seeking reinstatement, Adams agreed not to contest the warning, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The misconduct warning was issued after the commission interviewed witnesses at a hearing on Adams' fitness to serve as a family court judge. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has said it would request its cases be sent to another judge besides Adams, the newspaper said.

Adams, who was elected to the judgeship, had been seen as a respected figure in the community before his daughter, Hillary Adams, now 24, posted the video of him beating her. His wife, Hallie Adams, is seen on the video striking her daughter once, after telling her to "take it like a grown woman."

The statute of limitations for filing criminal child abuse charges has passed, the newspaper noted.