Judge's whipped daughter decries warning

Hillary Adams, now 23, put video of a 2004 whipping by her father on YouTube. Hillary Adams, now 23, put video of a 2004 whipping by her father on YouTube. Photo: AP Photo: AP Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Judge's whipped daughter decries warning 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

BROWNSVILLE — Hillary Adams wants her father kept off the bench for what she says is a history of abusive behavior that should keep the county court-at-law judge from presiding in family court.

In a video she posted to YouTube, the now-24-year-old is seen being struck by her father, Aransas County Judge William Adams.

The incident happened in 2004 and, because of the statute of limitations, could not be used to bring criminal charges against him. However, it prompted a state ethics commission to investigate his behavior.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct concluded a 10-month investigation with a “public warning,” issued Tuesday, enabling Judge Adams to return to the bench if the state Supreme Court lifts his paid suspension.

On Friday, Hillary slammed the commission for not recommending that he be removed from his post as a family court judge.

“If he had assaulted an adult in the street with a belt the way he did (with me) he would still be in prison right now, probably,” Hillary, who lives in San Antonio, said Friday. “The fact that he can do this to a weak child and get away with it makes me want to throw up.”

Requests to Judge Adams' lawyer for comment on the commission's action were not immediately answered.

His ex-wife, Hallie Adams, said she recently submitted her own grievance to the commission, which she estimates is about 1,000 pages and details 45 allegations of abuse.

.“I do understand why they made the decision and the ruling that they did and that is exactly why I have been working on my grievance,” she said. “I knew they wouldn't have all the information that they needed to have.”

She shared copies of profanity-laced emails and text messages, and 13 reports of Portland police responding to calls regarding such messages or disputes that occurred when the judge collected his younger daughter, now 11, for weekend visits. The couple divorced in 2007.

In a police report, dated Nov. 16, 2009, Judge Adams was upset that the child wasn't ready for the visit and knocked down an outdoor candy cane decoration, prompting Hallie to throw food at his car.

The officer's wrote in his report: “Hallie stated William began calling her a whore and degrading her in front of the child.”

Seana Willing, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct's executive director, said commission policy on confidentiality prevented her from confirming receipt of the grievance.

“We're never allowed to confirm whether a complaint's been filed, or say anything about whether a judge is being investigated,” she said. “The only time we can ever say anything is if the commission takes public action.”

Willing on Thursday said the commission heard from about 17 witnesses in its lengthy investigation before issuing the warning.

“It should take five minutes to see that that was the wrong thing to do, not almost a year,” Hillary said of the whipping captured in the 71/2-minute video. “He's a family law judge who oversees family law cases and who was beating his own children. And for our law system not to find a problem with that is very disturbing.”

She said her mother, who's also seen in the video, did not immediately report the abuse “because Dad was the authority in our lives.”

“Whatever he said was correct. That's just the way it was,” Hillary said. “And as far as we knew, we had a good life."

The video, uploaded to YouTube in November, was viewed by millions. Shortly after, Hillary and Hallie shared their story on television talk shows.

Judge Adams eschewed the spotlight, though he did issue a statement saying his daughter uploaded the video after he told her he wouldn't support her “dropout” life of working in a video game store.

lbrezosky@express-news.net