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In this Nov. 13, 2003, photo William Adams, Judge of the County Court At Law, listens to a prosecutor during a trial at the Aransas County Court House in Rockport, Texas. The Court-at-Law Judge told Corpus Christi television station KZTV on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, a YouTube video that shows him lashing his then-16-year-old daughter with a belt "looks worse than it is." (AP Photo/The Caller-Times, Mayra Beltran)

Judicial panel investigating video of beating

November 03, 2011 12:54 PM

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PORTLAND, TEXAS — After being flooded with calls, faxes and emails calling for action, a Texas judicial panel is investigating an internet video that shows a judge beating his teenage daughter with a belt.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct says in a statement released Thursday that it has "commenced an investigation into the incident."

The statement does not name Aransas (uh-RAN'-zuhs) County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams, but it does reference "a YouTube video purporting to depict a Texas judge engaging in the act of striking his teenage daughter with a belt."

The 13-member panel comprises judges, lawyers and regular citizens. After a formal proceeding and hearing, it has the authority to censure a judge or recommend to the Texas Supreme Court that the judge be suspended or removed.