Texas Judge Caught on Video Whipping His Daughter With a Belt Reinstated

Image source: YouTube

The Texas family law judge caught on video beating his then-teenage daughter has been reinstated by the state Supreme Court, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams was suspended with pay in November 2011 after his daughter Hillary Adams posted the secretly recorded 2004 video of him whipping her repeatedly with a belt when she was 16.

The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct launched an investigation and issued a public warning against Adams in September which questioned his suitability for his post but didn't recommend his removal, according to the Chronicle. Adams waived his right to appeal the warning, after which his reinstatement was considered a formality, the newspaper reported.

The Texas Supreme Court issued a one-page order on Tuesday approving the agreement and lifting Adams' suspension.

The seven-and-a-half-minute video caused an uproar and made national headlines after it was posted to YouTube just over a year ago. It showed Adams repeatedly beating his daughter, born with ataxic cerebral palsy, for illegally downloading music.

“I’m going to beat you into submission,” he said at one point.

Hillary Adams told CNN's Anderson Cooper she chose to secretly record her father after the beatings escalated and that she had been holding onto it for seven years.

"I finally snapped," she said of her decision to release it. “I just wanted to put it out there for my dad to see it and maybe a few other people to maybe help us reconcile and see that this is wrong.”

For his part, Adams said he "did lose [his] temper" but otherwise did nothing wrong.

"In my mind, I haven’t done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," he said.

Police did investigate Adams but did not pursue criminal charges because the statute of limitations had passed, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times reported.

It is unclear when Adams will return to the bench.

"Hillary and I are both really sad today," Adams' former wife Hallie Adams said in a statement. "I had really hoped the judicial review process would work. I had really wanted to see the public protected."

Original video below. ​CONTENT WARNING -- EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING IMAGES.

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