US attorney: No federal crime in Texas beating

>> incredibly disturbing story out of texas , video of a father repeatedly hitting his father with a belt. he is a judge. and a warning. this is very difficult to watch. we'll talk to the judge's daughter exclusively in a moment but first we go live to rock port , texas with the story. janet, good morning to you.

>> reporter: matt, good morning. it bears repeating. this video is graphic, disturbing, difficult to watch, and has taken the internet by storm. more than 1.6 million views on youtube, most within the last 24 hours . a texas judge here in rockport, aransas county , repeatedly whipping his teenage daughter with a leather strap even as she was crying and pleading with him to stop.

>> get over here.

>> reporter: the man in this video is texas judge william adams and the girl is his then 16-year-old daughter who has cerebral palsy .

>> bend over that bed. bend over the bed.

>> well --

>> bend over the bed!

>> stop. stop.

>> reporter: the beating continues on the legs for most of the seven-minute video that has swept the internet and provoked an online outcry. again and again hillary adams cries out after being lashed by her father's belt on her legs, her arms, and her buttocks. once at the hands of her mother.

>> you turn over , i'm going to spank on your butt. you turn over like a 16-year-old and take it. like a grown woman. turn over .

>> reporter: the disturbing scene was captured seven years ago in her bedroom, hillary says. after her dad found out she has downloaded music from an illegal website.

>> are you happy? huh? disobeying your parents?

>> stop!

>> reporter: after holding onto the video since 2004 , hillary , now 23 and living on her own, uploaded it to youtube after she says her father continued to harass her and she finally had enough.

>> the disputes and the harassment were escalating, and finally it just was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back and i told him i had the video and he brushed it off.

>> reporter: william adams isn't just hillary 's father. he's a judge in south texas where he routinely rules on cases involving children. he also sits on a county board overseeing the juvenile system. he admits that's him in the video.

>> no, in my mind i haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing and i did lose my temper but i've since apologized. it looks worse than it is. there is a story. it'll come out in due time . okay?

>> and it's because she downloaded a game onto your computer?

>> no. she was stealing -- i don't want to get into it. okay? but there was a reason she was being disciplined.

>> reporter: but as a family's private feud went public and viral, outrage has boiled over. facebook pages have sprung up decrying judge adams . the texas commission on judicial conduct has been flooded with demands he be removed from the bench. in tiny rock port , police have been swamped by calls from all over the world. the chief has opened an investigation a at the district attorney's request to determine whether the beating was criminal. when does it cross the line? when does discipline within a family become assault?

>> frequently that's a difficult thing to determine because by state law a person has a right to discipline their children to a point, but not to the point that you cause serious bodily injury to a child.

>> reporter: hillary 's mother has since divorced him and apologized for her role in the beating. for his part judge adams insists his daughter wasn't hurt.

>> i lost my temper. i spanked her. her mother was there. she wasn't hurt. it was a long time ago.

>> reporter: do you acknowledge the beating was excessive, the spanking? the discipline?

>> no. i'm not going to get into any of that. okay?

>> reporter: police say judge adams has left rockport and a note outside the courthouse informs his hearings have been canceled.

>> i ought to keep beating you and beating you.

>> stop. stop.

>> reporter: a daughter's disclosure as a family's private troubles go public. authorities tell nbc news that for a charge such as bodily injury to a child the statute of limitations is five years. this video is seven years old so it is likely no charges will be filed. as for judge adams ' seat here on the bench county officials tell me when the judge does return for any cases involving children, a visiting judge is going to handle those at least for now. matt?

>> thank you very much. hillary and haley adams are here for an exclusive interview. good morning to both of you.

>> good morning, matt.

>> we only showed a little portion of that tape. it goes on for seven very long minutes. we showed it in our newsroom yesterday to people who have seen an awful lot of tough things. they were universelyuniverselyally upset by this. as you watch it seven years later what goes through your mind?

>> i've experienced everything from crying about it to almost just laughing. i've experienced so many emotions and sometimes it's like reliving it and sometimes it's like watching it from a completely third person point of view. it's just really impossible to put all of that into words.

>> families in this country struggle with the dilemma of punishing and discipline all the time, to spank or not spank. i think the belt thing seems to cross a line. but was this something that happened regularly in your house? is that why you set that camera up in the room that night?

>> it did happen regularly for a period of time, and i could tell because of the pattern that things were escalating again, so i set up my video camera on the dresser and covered the little red light with a scarf. about half an hour after i set the camera up this happened. and it was amazing that i was able to capture such a thing.

>> why did you wait seven years? you've had this video. you clearly are as upset about it today as you were back then. why did you wait seven years? why release it on the internet as opposed to going to authorities with it?

>> well, i waited seven years because back then i was still a minor and living under his roof and releasing it then would have, i don't know what would have happened to me or my mother or my little sister so waiting until today seven years later has enabled me to pull away and be able to distance myself from the consequences.

>> you released a note accompanying the video, quote, judge william adams is not fit to be anywhere near the law system if he can't even exercise fit judgment as a parent himself. do not allow this man to ever be re-elected again. he is not up for re-election right now. i don't think that comes for three years. again, the timing of this is in question. why?

>> it just was like i said in that previous video. it was the straw that broke the camel's back. it wasn't any, you know, huge happening or anything. i just told him i had the video and he didn't seem to think anything of it. and basically dared me to post it.

>> do you want him to lose his job?

>> i think wishing anybody to lose their job is not a really good thing to kao bdo but --

>> because of the public outcry there is a chance he may be forced to step down even if no criminal charges are filed against him.

>> his being fit for the job is something i can't really say that he is.

>> haley , let me turn to you because you're in this tape.

>> yes.

>> we heard nu there saying, turn over . take it like a 16-year-old girl.

>> yes.

>> i mean, how does a mother not only stand by and watch her husband do that to her daughter but take part in it?

>> that's a good question and that's what i had to ask myself. i didn't know about the video until, well, this past april. and this past weekend was the first time i saw it. my answer to you and to the world is something that i've been hiding for a very long time is a family secret and that's addiction.

>> addiction on your part?

>> no, sir.

>> on his part?

>> yes, sir.

>> but, still, that doesn't tell me why you participated in and watched it.

>> because i lived in an environment of dysfunction and it steadily got worse. i tried to -- i did leave him when she was 6 months old and he ashamed me into going back and i did my best to make --

>> were you afraid for your own safety if you had stood up to this man?

>> i was completely brain washed and controlled. i did every single thing that he did. when i leave the room he is telling me what to say, what to do.

>> are you ainge grate yongry at your mo m?

>> no. we are very close now. when i showed her the video she started crying, hasn't stopped apologizing and i forgive her because she knows everything that happened.

>> judge adams said on wednesday, quote, i haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing . i did lose my temper but i've since apologized. it looks worse than it is. there is a story. it will come out in due time . what is the story that you think he is referring to?

>> well, i think he feared and didn't understand the internet because the media that i wanted to obtain was overseas and at that time i couldn't have purchased it if i wanted to. so i think there is some controversy there.

>> but is there more that's going none this family that i don't know about? you're saying yes. what else there is?

>> i think that the story that's going to come out in due time in his mind is that he has projected his problem on to me and for the entire four years since i left the marriage i've been abused and harassed through texts, e-mails. i've had to cut him off talking to him. and this past june i told him i wasn't texting him at all. i wasn't ever talking to him again and he has threatened me to file for modification to take my younger daughter away from me.

>> what do you want to see here, hillary ? do you want him to get help?

>> yes. exactly.

>> what is the outcome you're looking for?

>> i think he's been punished enough just by seeing this go public like this and i think he really needs help and rehabilitation. we need to get him counseling or something.

>> do you have any regrets releasing this now, now that this has gone so public and so many people have watched it? any regrets?

>> i regret some of my friends and some people close to me have kind of had trouble with this and, of course, i regret that it's my own father. i'm having very mixed feelings about that but at the same time so many people are telling me that i did the right thing so there are definitely different emotions.

>> hillary and haley adams , thank you so much. we appreciate you both being here. we'll follow this story.

>> thank you, matt.

>>> it is 7:41. let's check the weather from al.

>> thank you.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45162497/ns/us_news-life/

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