No Charges For Child-Whipping Judge Caught On YouTube 948
theodp writes "Federal prosecutors will not charge a Texas judge seen lashing his teenage daughter with a belt on a YouTube video taken seven years ago and posted online last week, closing the door on the possibility of criminal charges in the case. The viral video, uploaded by now 23-year-old Hillary Adams, shows her father, Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams, whipping her with a belt for downloading music when she was 16 (full video, requires login). 'F*****g computers,' the judge tells his now ex-wife on the video. 'I told you I didn't want one in the god damn house. See all the problems they cause?' Judge Adams issued a statement asserting that his daughter released the tape to retaliate against him for withdrawing his financial support."
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:5, Informative)
Actually no, the statute of limitations applies to regular citizens also.
hard to watch (Score:2, Informative)
Judge Adams issued a statement asserting that his daughter released the tape to retaliate against him for withdrawing his financial support.
Oh, so he abuses his children and then also doesn't support them financially, sounds like a real winner!
Re:He's a judge, he is liable for her crimes (Score:1, Informative)
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:5, Informative)
18 USC 3283 - Sec. 3283. Offenses against children
"No statute of limitations that would otherwise preclude prosecution for an offense involving the sexual or physical abuse, or kidnaping, of a child under the age of 18 years shall preclude such prosecution during the life of the child."
I believe the code is clear in stating that the statute of limitations do NOT apply to child abuse victims.
Re:hard to watch (Score:3, Informative)
She has cerebral palsy.
Source - no registration required (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Child? (Score:0, Informative)
Anonymous Operation DoxTheJudge Judge William Adams [youtube.com]
TRANSCRIPT
__________________________
Greetings, Judge Adams.
We are Anonymous.
Your recent actions have been atrocious, unjust, and as an individual who represents families in judicial disputes, we expected more of you. We have witnessed you mercilessly beating your own disabled daughter for simply "browsing the internet or downloading music". We are outraged. Such aggression against a child will not stand, especially by someone who has assumed the duty to protect families. However, how ironic it is that this leak was not made by the discerning public, but from the victim: your own daughter. The heartless beating of another human being, especially the one of a child is a terrible crime that will not go unnoticed.
To speculate the least, you yourself know as a parent that she has a disability, and given that she was of such a young age, her understanding may not be as 'advanced' as your own. However, as human beings, we have evolved NOT to abuse and incite violence, but to understand and learn. You clearly represent the intelligence of a neanderthal and as such, you deserve to be treated like the brute that you are. You may have seen your actions justified, but to a young girl, she does not understand the nature of your aggression.Your actions show you to be terrible parent, an abhorrent human being, and as such you deserve to be outcast by the society that respects and abides by your final word.
Therefore, we have decided that you shall receive the full fury of Anonymous. We shall continue to wage war against you until you have paid the price for your reprehensible actions. We will not cease our attacks until you have done so. We demand a PUBLIC APOLOGY to both the people of Texas and to your daughter. Further, we demand your immediate resignation from the bar and retirement from any form of judiciary action or law enforcement.
Should you choose to continue to assert that "it looks worse than it was", we shall continue our actions against you untill you see the abhorrent nature of your actions and comply with our demands.
We protect the innocent.
We fight for the oppressed.
We shall avenge.
Operation DoxTheJudge, engaged.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not Forgive.
We do not Forget.
Expect us.
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:5, Informative)
Come to Canada. It *is* a federal crime and the law has been upheld by the Supreme Court, just like drunk driving, and you will be charged. You'll have to make bail and promise to come back for your trial, and if you don't your sorry ass will be extradited from the US.
And no, we also do it to Canadians as well - and there is no "religious excuse" [lifesitenews.com].
And there is no statute of limitations on child abuse in Canada.
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:5, Informative)
The State Attorney is a lying sack of shit.
http://www.dallascriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/2008/09/statute-of-limitations-texas-l.html [dallascrim...erblog.com]
TEN YEARS.
2011-2004 = 7
Someone needs to shoot the SA as well.
Re:Nothing to prosecute here - Statute of Limitati (Score:3, Informative)
THE FUCKING STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAS NOT EXPIRED.
http://www.dallascriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/2008/09/statute-of-limitations-texas-l.html [dallascrim...erblog.com]
Could you at least have the fucking brains to DO THE RESEARCH YOURSELF before opening your mouth like a fucking parrot?
Re:hard to watch (Score:4, Informative)
He didn't completely stop supporting her financially. He reduced her allowance and took away the Mercedes. Most people do not earn enough to drive a Mercedes. Why should he be forced to supplement her income to the level she deems adequate. She should be grateful for every cent she gets. She is essentially blackmailing him. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Re:hard to watch (Score:5, Informative)
Note: She is an adult and recovering from the abuse. However, she was born with ataxic cerebral palsy. I don't know how bad it is, but it may preclude her from many occupations. Apparently she is pretty smart and plays the piano well. Ataxic cerebral palsy usually affects muscular coordination, and the symptoms (poor balance, shakiness, poor coordination) last a lifetime and may get worse in old age.
There is no reason to discuss why she needed her family's support, if she needed her family's support, if it was justified to withdraw the support or anything else because we don't know enough facts, and it's none of our business.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=thinker's+toolbox&x=0&y=0 [amazon.com]
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:4, Informative)
According to a quote from the district attorney from the Texas county in question:
"I would expect that yeah, charges would have been pursued but for the inability to proceed due to the statute of limitations," Flanigan said Friday. "You know, whether that would have been a felony or a misdemeanor charge I can't say but I think there would've been some action pursued."
Also according to the article:
Angela Dodge, a U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman, said prosecutors determined there was no federal crime depicted on the 2004 video of Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams.
According to the link you posted (emphasis mine):
Five Years
Theft, burglary, robbery; kidnapping; injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual that is not punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section 22.04, Penal Code; abandoning or endangering a child; or insurance fraud;
I don't agree with beating children, and especially disabled children, but the crime was not severe enough under current laws to be a felony, and the statute of limitations expired.
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:5, Informative)
Your quote is screwed.
"Ten Years- theft of any estate by an executor/administrator. Theft by a public servant of government property, Forgery. Injury to a child, elderly individual, or disabled individual punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section 22.04, Penal Code;"
A child with cerebral palsy that has been terrorized into a state of fear and unable to defend themselves is a felony, according to Penal code 22.01 with the provision of it being a THIRD DEGREE FELONY if conducted against a person described in Section 71.0021(b), 71.003, or 71.005, Family Code (in this case, it's 71.005 that applies - Household member) and also in Section 22.04, which the entirety of the section shall be hereforth linked
http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/docs/pe/htm/pe.22.htm [state.tx.us]
""Disabled individual" means a person older than 14 years of age who by reason of age or physical or mental disease, defect, or injury is substantially unable to protect himself from harm or to provide food, shelter, or medical care for himself."
By reason of age - 16 years old is not old enough to reasonably live on your own, especially with cerebral palsy, which happens to fall under physical disease.
Hi, I can read in-depth and reference multiple law requirements at the same time thanks to tabbed browsing. SOL has very clearly not expired due to these conditions.
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:3, Informative)
There's a difference between beating and spanking with a belt, or hitting with a belt. I'm glad you can't see, or know the distinction.
Re:hard to watch (Score:4, Informative)
That's not how it happened (according to him).
He decided to reduce the support because he felt she was not pulling her own weight.
She countered that she had a video of him beating her from 7 years ago. Basically, she was threatening him to keep the support going or risk embarrassment or worse, prosecution or prison.
The law in most countries does not allow blackmail. In fact, if the prosecutors are willing, she might find herself in trouble.
He did something bad, illegal for which he ought to have been punished. But the law does not allow vigilantism. The law is not a tool to be used to beat people into submission with. It is not hers to use as a weapon. She had to decide earlier whether she wanted him punished or not. Heck, this girl continued living with her father after her parents separated.
Re:The legal system at it's finest. (Score:4, Informative)
Funny. A belt is child abuse these days. In my day, that was considered 'punishment' for fucking up.
I'll grant you that there definitely is a bit of debate and disagreement on whether punishment with a belt is considered discipline or abuse. In a way I think it kind of borders on abuse, but at the same time, I was whipped with a belt as a child and I don't really think of myself as having been abused.
However, that's beside the point. We aren't talking about hitting someone with a belt a couple of times. We are talking about a video of him whipping and degrading her for SEVEN MINUTES. After about the first 5 hits in about 20 seconds, she's cryiing and begging him to stop, but he continues on. She's hit with the belt a total of 18 times. At one point (about 4:20 in the video) he appears to hit, punch, or slam her (you can hear a pretty loud thump, and you can tell it's not the belt). He uses phrases like "I didn't get my licks in yet", "I'm going to BEAT you into submission" (emphasis his), and "I'll keep BEATIN you, and BEATIN you". Apparently his wife even claims she was abused, and she eventually left him for that reason.
Here's the video of the whole thing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEaqB4773MA [youtube.com]
Re:Child? (Score:3, Informative)
I wasn't abused asshole. I was spanked. For doing common things like skipping school, getting into fights. I was never bruised, marked, or anything of the sort. I know right from wrong, and I respect and love my parents.
Right. So the beatings were so good at teaching you right from wrong, you kept on doing things wrong and you kept on being beaten.
Here's a clue. The kids who are going to school every day, and aren't getting in to fights are more likely to be the ones who are not beaten at home.
The only reason you think corporal punishment is OK is because of the normalising effect of childhood. You were beaten therefore beating is OK. You speak about your parents in the present tense. Something I experienced myself is that it was only after both my parents had passed away, when I was in my approaching 40, that I began to see my childhood as it really was. That I began to see it critically rather than just assume my parents got everything right.
Only an idiot would take what they see on the internet as religious truth without any evidence to back up what they are seeing. Here you have a girl who planted a video camera knowing she was about to get spanked for doing something that could potentially cost her father hundreds of thousands of dollars. You also know that she posted this because her father took away her mercedes and allowance as an act of spite.
There are two videos of interest. One is the 7 minute one of her being beaten with a belt. The other is the interview. If you'd actually seen the interview, you'd have realised that the mother - who administered one of the lashes of the belt - is sat beside her daughter, supporting her. It seems like the father wasn't just abusing the daughter but his wife as well.
What was that about only an idiot? You're supporting a child abuser as a result of you being beaten as a child. You're a classic stereotype.