AUSTIN -- Debate is brewing over corporal punishment after a YouTube video with millions of hits depicts a Texas judge and father repeatedly striking his daughter with a belt.
The seven-and-a-half-minute video showed Aransas County Judge William Adams. In the video he hits his daughter with a belt more than a dozen times as she cries.
His daughter, 16-year-old Hillary, has cerebral palsy. She recorded the incident with a hidden camera. Her parents were upset that day accusing her of illegally downloading music and games from the Internet.
“I think it's criminal,” said Austin Attorney Daryl Weinman. “She is disabled. She couldn't defend herself. If this was his wife it wouldn't have been acceptable either. It really wouldn't be acceptable no matter who the person is.”
Texas law allows corporal punishment. However, it can only be used for "reasonable discipline of a child," and only by parents, grandparents, and guardians.
“Generally to hit a child with an object above the waist or on the legs is not appropriate,” Weinman said.
The video has 2.2 million hits on You Tube.
“What's enticing about corporal punishment is parents think that it works, because in the moment the behavior will stop,” said family therapist and parenting coach Katie Malinski, LCSW.
Malinksi advises her clients to not use corporal punishment. She said physical discipline can have dangerous long term consequences for children.
“The research is very clear corporal punishment is associated with increased psychological disorders, with aggression, alcohol, and substance abuse in later life,” Malinski said.
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