Arkansas County Court-At-Law Judge William Adams took discipline to another level when he punished his daughter physically for using the Internet to acquire music and games that were unavailable for legal purchase at the time.
Hillary Adams, his daughter, has had ataxic cerebral palsy from birth that led her to a passion for technology, but her father disapproved of her hobby. He stormed in her room with a belt, beat her and cursed her physically and emotionally. The mother later entered the room and assisted the father with beating her.
Hillary secretly recorded the beating when she set up a camera in her room. She told NBC’s “Today” show on Thursday that the videoed attack was not a one-off. “It did happen regularly for a period of time,” Hillary said during an interview with Fox News.
Although the beating was seven years ago, she uploaded it on YouTube Oct. 27. She said she feared if she released the video, she would be punished even further added Hillary on the ‘Today Show,” this morning. The video went viral, getting heavy media attention.
The video has sparked thousands of calls of complaints to the courthouse, sheriffs office and police department, which later led to a police investigation.
Hallie Adams, her mother, has since left the husband and apologized to her daughter, ABC news reported.
According to an interview with MSNBC, she blamed her ex-husband’s bouts of violence on his “addiction,” calling it a “family secret.”
Under Texas law and the penal code, parents have a right to discipline children.
The question is where do we draw the line between discipline and abuse?
There is a thin line between making children understand what they did wrong and physically and emotionally abusing them. Mr. Adams was abusing Hallie, not just by hitting her repeatedly, but verbally insulting her.
“You don’t deserve to be in this house,” Mr. Adams repeated as he hit her over and over again. “I should beat you into submission.” If that’s discipline then what’s abuse? Many beg to differ but what was shown in the video speaks for itself.
If we let stuff like this go by without any repercussion, the abuse rate will skyrocket.
Those words were not discipline, but the words of a man with a problem.