He really fears the Internet now

Texas beating judge dared his daughter to post the shocking viral video; cut offher phone service in response

Last week, Hillary Adams quietly posted a video on her YouTube channel. Shot by a hidden webcam, it depicted her father brutally spanking the then 16-year-old with a leather belt.

The corporal punishment was for using the Internet (something that her father feared) to illegally download games and music. The father was Aransas County Court-at-Large Judge William Adams.

Hillary Adams, now 23, initially maintained a relatively low profile after publishing the video. She had the time to go to a Typing of the Dead tournament, play some other games, interview for a job.

Then, suddenly, the video took off. It has accrued more than 2.2 million views and 66,000 comments, with much of that coming in the last few days. Groups were created on Facebook aimed at preventing Judge Adams' re-election, a fake (and un-amusing) Twitter account cropped up. Hillary Adams was bombarded by national media outlets for interviews.

"I told him I had the video, and he didn’t seem to think anything of it and basically dared me to post it," Hillary Adams said.

Hillary Adams — who has ataxic cerebral palsy — and her mother, Hallie Adams, appeared on the Today Show on Thursday morning. Hallie Adams, who is also culpable in the incriminating video, places all of the blame on her now ex-husband and makes reference to some mysterious "addiction."

"I lived in an environment of dysfunction, and it steadily got worse. I was completely brainwashed and controlled," Hallie Adams said. "I did every single thing that he did. When I leave the room, he’s telling me what to say, what to do."

As Today Show host Matt Lauer attempted to understand why Hillary Adams decided to release the video so many years later, she had unclear answers.

"Waiting until today, seven years later, was about me being able to pull away and distance myself from the consequences," Hillary Adams said. "It was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It wasn’t any huge happening. I told him I had the video, and he didn’t seem to think anything of it and basically dared me to post it."

So she published it (on the Internet, ironically) for the world to see.

"In my mind, I haven’t done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," her father told a Corpus Christi TV station. "I did lose my temper, but I have since apologized. It looks worse than it is. There is a story. It will come out in due time."

In the meantime, the beating judge has left Rockport and has cut off his daughter's phone service. His job is under scrutiny, with Aransas County officials saying that the county "is aware of the video posted on YouTube regarding Count Court-at-Law Judge William Adams, and the matter is now under review by the Police Department."

But apparently all Hillary Adams wanted was for her father to get help.

income analysis

This is the salary needed for a single-income family in Texas in 2026

Stay at home dad with their child

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

The income needed for a single-income household to raise a child in Texas is lower than it was last year.

With childrearing costs in the Lone Star State adding up to tens of thousands of dollars per year, many Texas families are navigating a difficult decision: should both parents work or should one parent stay home to raise the child?

For Texas families that choose the latter, the working parent needs to make nearly $73,000 per year to support their child and the stay-at-home parent, a new income analysis has revealed.

The newly released SmartAsset report used MIT's Living Wage Calculator to estimate the annual living wages needed across all 50 states for a three-person household with two working adults and one child, and a family with one working adult, a stay-at-home parent, and one child. Costs included food, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, incremental income taxes, and "other necessities."

A Texas household with one working parent needs to make $72,925 to support their stay-at-home counterpart and their child, the study found. That's $1,809 less than what was needed in 2025.

Meanwhile, the combined income needed for a household with one child and both parents working full-time is $85,030.

Texas ranked No. 42 in SmartAsset's ranking of states with the highest minimum income needed to support a family with one working parent, one stay-at-home parent, and one child. That also situates Texas as the 9th most affordable state for single-income families. But there are risks associated with only having one breadwinner in the family.

"A single income family with small children potentially saves in child care costs over a household with two working parents," the report's author wrote. "The main disadvantages are the lost salary and retirement contributions, Social Security earnings history and employer health benefits."

There aren't any specific tax benefits to having a parent stay at home to raise their child full time, but SmartAsset says single-income families can claim a tax credit under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

"[S]ingle-income families may claim the Child Tax Credit — up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026 ($1,700 refundable) — on the same terms as any other family," the report said.

SmartAsset's latest report only looks at costs on a statewide basis, but the cost to raise a child will also vary greatly depending on the city you live in. Raising a child in Houston might pose a challenge for some families, where the cost for childcare alone adds up to $10,265 and overall costs can surpass $22,000.

For households with two children, there might be additional strains on what a family might consider a "comfortable living." A March 2026 SmartAsset study determined a Houston-based family with two working parents need to make a combined income of $204,672 to have a financially stable life while raising two children.

The top 10 states with the lowest minimum income needed for single-income families are:

Arkansas ($68,869)
Mississippi ($70,054)
Kentucky ($70,179)
West Virginia ($70,283)
North Dakota ($71,219)
Oklahoma ($71,365)
Louisiana ($71,406)
Missouri ($72,862)
Texas ($72,925)
Tennessee ($72,946)

smartasset reports texas family income

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