Texas judge admits to on-camera beating...
>>>Texas judge admits to on-camera beating
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "People are believing us now, " the daughter tells television station KRIS
Judge apologizes: "Yeah, that's me. I lost my temper"
Judge will be temporarily relieved of his duties for two weeks
Judge's ex-wife writes on Facebook about "ongoing" abuse
Dallas (CNN) -- A Texas judge faces a police investigation and judicial probe after a video showing him beating his then-16-year-old disabled daughter was posted on the Internet.
The graphic video drew international outrage after it was posted by a woman who said she was the victim of the beating seven years ago and that her parents -- including her father, Aransas County, Texas, Court-At-Law Judge William Adams -- were the ones seen beating and cursing at her in the video.
On Wednesday afternoon, Judge Adams was temporarily relieved of his duties for the next two weeks, and a visiting judge will take over his caseload while the matter is being investigated, according to the office of Aransas County Administrative Judge Burt Mills.
No court dates were scheduled this week, Mills' office said.
In an interview with KZTV outside his Rockport, Texas, home Wednesday, Adams confirmed to a reporter that he was the man beating his daughter with a belt and a board on the video, taped in 2004.
"She's mad because I've ordered her to bring the car back, in a nutshell, but yeah, that's me. I lost my temper," Adams told the TV station. "Her mother was there, she wasn't hurt ... it was a long time ago ... I really don't want to get into this right now because as you can see my life's been made very difficult over this child."
Adams continued: "In my mind I have not done anything wrong other than discipline my child when she was caught stealing. I did lose my temper, I've apologized. It looks worse than it is."
Speaking via phone to Texas television station KRIS, a woman who identified herself as Hillary Adams, the daughter in the video, said she posted the video, and criticized her father for "making light of the situation."
"I just can't believe he would say something like, he doesn't think it's a big deal," she said.
She told KRIS she set up the camera to record the incident seven years ago, but waited for "the right time" to release the video.
"Waiting this long to publish it has enabled me to look at it with hindsight and not be so caught up in the passion of the moment," Hillary Adams said. "I think we do, my mother and I, we do need to try to move on past the anger and just concentrate on getting counseling and help."
Receiving an outpouring of support after posting the video has been like a form of therapy, she told KRIS, which is based in Corpus Christi, Texas.
"People are believing us now, instead of calling us liars like they have in the past," she said.
Aransas County Attorney Richard Bianchi said his office has been overwhelmed with calls and e-mails, including some from overseas, since the video went viral on the Internet.
"Just a sad day. It's unfortunate for all the people in that video. It doesn't bode well for the image of our community or our judiciary or our legal community in Aransas County," Bianchi said.
When asked if Judge Adams could continue to work under the media attention and while the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct investigates, Bianchi replied: "That depends on his state of mind. He'll have to look himself in the mirror and ask if he can conduct himself fairly and make good decisions."
Judge Adams is up for re-election in three years, Judge Mills told CNN. He was elected to a four-year term last year, said Aransas County Clerk Peggy Friebele.
Asked if there were any similar or past incidents in the longtime judge's personnel record, Bianchi stated: "Nothing involving the county attorney's office... He, like all of us, has his personal life struggles... he had a divorce." Adams was the county judge, an administrative position, before being elected as a county court-at-law judge about 10 years ago, Bianchi said.
A person identifying herself as Hillary Adams said in posting the video to the sharing site Reddit she decided to post it after receiving a "barrage of harassment" over the phone from her father.
The video, apparently shot on a webcam, was also posted to YouTube. In that posting, the person identifying herself as Hillary Adams said the beating occurred in 2004, when her father was punishing her for using the Internet "to acquire music and games that were unavailable for legal purchase at the time."
The video posting said, "Judge William Adams is not fit to be anywhere near the law system if he can't even exercise fit judgment as a parent himself. Do not allow this man to ever be re-elected again. His 'judgment' is a giant farce. Signed, Hillary Adams, his daughter."
CNN tried repeatedly on Wednesday to reach William Adams at his Rockport, Texas, office, but
