Vikings RB Adrian Peterson Accused of Child Abuse

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is being accused of child abuse. The charges stem from Peterson allegedly disciplining his 4-year old son with a “switch.”

In a moment of irony, late last year, a young son of Peterson’s that he did not have a relationship with, died at the hands of another man after being physically abused.

The Vikings have issued a statement.

**UPDATE** Initial reports stated the son was 11-years old, a Houston radio station is reporting that it is actually a four-year old son of Peterson’s. The 26-year-old has several children from different relationships and is currently married to Elizabeth Ashley.

Sports Radio 610 in Houston obtained from a draft of the police report which says Peterson admitted that he did, in his words, “whoop” one of his children last May while the boy was visiting him in Houston.

When the 4-year-old boy returned to Minnesota, his mother took him to a doctor. The police report said the boy told the doctor Peterson had hit him with a branch from a tree.still

The doctor told investigators that the boy had a number of lacerations on his thighs, along with bruise-like marks on his lower back and buttocks and cuts on his hand.

The police report says the doctor described some of the marks as open wounds and termed it “child abuse.” Another examiner agreed, calling the cuts “extensive.

In July Peterson was interviewed about the incident:

The “whooping” – as Peterson put it when interviewed by police – occurred in Spring, Texas, in May. Peterson’s son had pushed another one of Peterson’s children off of a motorbike video game. As punishment, Peterson grabbed a tree branch – which he consistently referred to as a “switch” – removed the leaves and struck the child repeatedly.

The beating allegedly resulted in numerous injuries to the child, including cuts and bruises to the child’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum, along with defensive wounds to the child’s hands. Peterson then texted the boy’s mother, saying that one wound in particular would make her “mad at me about his leg. I got kinda good wit the tail end of the switch.”

Peterson also allegedly said via text message to the child’s mother that he “felt bad after the fact when I notice the switch was wrapping around hitting I (sic) thigh” and also acknowledged the injury to the child’s scrotum in a text message, saying, “Got him in nuts once I noticed. But I felt so bad, n I’m all tearing that butt up when needed! I start putting them in timeout. N save the whooping for needed memories!”

Peterson will turn himself in to police over the weekend.

Rough week for the NFL.

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