Texas Family Law Judge Restrained from Visiting Daughter

A Texas Family Law Judge has been placed under a temporary restraining order after he was seen beating his daughter on a video posted on YouTube.

A court Thursday ordered William Adams not to meet his 10-year-old daughter unless his wife, Hallie Adams, permitted him to do so. His wife's lawyer said that the order prevented the judge from visiting his younger daughter. Also, Adams could not drink alcohol within 24 hours of seeing his daughter or disparage his ex-wife, reported New York Times.

Brett Pritchard, Hallie Adams' lawyer, said in a statement that the ruling temporarily terminates the visitation between Judge Adams and his younger child.

A hearing is scheduled by State District Court for Nov. 21 to decide on Haille's request to have Judge Adams's visitation denied or require that it be supervised.

The video shows Judge Adams beating his daughter in a dark room, with a belt repeatedly in spite of her crying and asking him to stop. He is asking her to bend over the bed and take the lashes while shockingly his wife too joins him in the cruel act and beats her.

Hillary, 23, uploaded the eight minutes secretly-recorded 2004 video of him beating her on YouTube, after which Judge Adams got public calls for resignation.

Hallie Adams filed an affidavit Thursday that claimed that her marriage of 22 years with Judge Adams was dysfunctional and that they had had differences and conflicts since their divorce in 2007.

Pritchard, her lawyer, said the furious public reaction to the video had prompted the move. The impetus is she doesn't feel at first that her daughter is safe going down there to be with the judge right now. The impetus now is the result of the video, not necessarily the video itself, Pritchard said.

An investigation into the matter is on by the state commission on Judicial Conduct. However, the district attorney and federal prosecutors declined to bring charges against Judge Adams.

There seems to be no abuse of the daughter, according to Chief Tim Jayroe of the Rockport Police Department.