convenience store where mary todd has been working the front counter for more than 35 years. when my husband is not there, i like to be there. if problems arise, i take care of it. on this lazy friday afternoon, the great-grandmother twice over retreats to the store s back office to indulge her twin passions. i was crocheting and watching television, and that s a good thing to do. seven security cameras roll as two teenager cashiers work the registers up front while long time employee michael wallace stalks the shelves. come to work at 2:00 in the afternoon. i was stocking some beer to put on the shelf. just another routine day. everything was real, real smooth. going smooth. until just before 3:00.
according to hillary s mom hallie, the 16-year-old begins to spend more and more of her free time online. she loved video games. she loved being on the computer, chatting on the computer or even skyping on the computer. but her daughter s cyber life does not sit well with her father, william, a family law judge for aransas county. he didn t like the computer or internet at all. he didn t like that presence in her life or my life. early one evening, tensions in the home escalate when hillary s father learns she s been downloading music illegally off the internet. all that he knew was downloading meant illegal and that was basically stealing. not that i m condoning it or anything. i could tell something was going to happen. that something hillary fears is a physical beating from her father. he would discipline harshly when things didn t go his way.
national media coverage. inrebelly disturbing story out of texas. hillary and her mom hallie, now divorced from william, appear on the today show and other national media. william adams gives his side when questioned by a local reporter at the time. 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 will come out in time. you do acknowledge that is you in the video? that s me. police investigate but the statute of limitations has run out and no charges are filed. adams is suspended with full pay from the bench, pending the results of an investigation by the state commission on judicial conduct. in september 2012, the commission issues adams a public warning about his conduct.
bend over that bed. a young girl is beaten with a leather belt. bend over the bed. by her own father, a respected judge. dad just kept coming back with the belt. he kept coming back. get on wrr [ bleep ] stomach on the bed now. i remember thinking he wouldn t stop. get on your stomach, i said. why won t he just stop? the year is 2004. rock port, texas. hillary adams, a shy home schooled teenager with a rare form of cerebral palsy has discovered a new world, the internet. i found out there were other people you could find with the same interests as you, even if you thought you were the only person in the entire world. you could find a friend on the internet. and that was just magical to a little kid like me.
two months later adams is reinstated by the state supreme court. up for re-election in 2014, he declined our request for an interview or comment. hallie still struggles with her participation in the beating. i actually really did think about, you know, maybe it might just be better if i took my own life. i did consider that. i regret that i wasn t strong, and i regret that i didn t call the police. hillary says she still hopes someday to reconcile with her father but has no regrets about posting the video. a normal person would not hurt an animal like that. they wouldn t whip a puppy or anything. they wouldn t whip a cat that they find, so why would somebody do that to their own child? coming up, flash floods strand a panicked pooch.