Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson turned himself in to Montgomery County (TX) police early Saturday morning after a warrant was issued for his arrest Friday for injuring a child. He was detained and released after about 30 minutes following his $15,000 bond, according to jail records.
Minnesota said they are dropping him from the team’s roster for their Sunday game against the Patriots as they further look into the matter.
“The Vikings are in the process of gathering information regarding the legal situation involving Adrian Peterson,” the Vikings said in a statement.
Those charging Peterson are basically accusing him of child abuse, while the Pro-Bowler sees it as a misunderstood case in which he was simply disciplining his child within his parental rights.
Here is the alleged story featuring a set of very intriguing text messages.
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!”
In further text messages, Peterson allegedly said, “Never do I go overboard! But all my kids will know, hey daddy has the biggie heart but don’t play no games when it comes to acting right.”
According to police reports, the child, however, had a slightly different story, telling authorities that “Daddy Peterson hit me on my face.” The child also expressed worry that Peterson would punch him in the face if the child reported the incident to authorities. He also said that he had been hit by a belt and that “there are a lot of belts in Daddy’s closet.” He added that Peterson put leaves in his mouth when he was being hit with the switch while his pants were down. The child told his mother that Peterson “likes belts and switches” and “has a whooping room.”
Peterson was reportedly cooperative and calm while dealing with authorities and had the belief he had done nothing wrong. His attorney, Rusty Harden, released this statement:
“Adrian Peterson has been informed that he was indicted by a grand jury in Montgomery County, Texas for Injury to a Child. The charged conduct involves using a switch to spank his son. This indictment follows Adrian’s full cooperation with authorities who have been looking into this matter.
Adrian is a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to discipline his son. He used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas. Adrian has never hidden from what happened. He has cooperated fully with authorities and voluntarily testified before the grand jury for several hours.
Adrian will address the charges with the same respect and responsiveness he has brought to this inquiry from its beginning. It is important to remember that Adrian never intended to harm his son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury.”
If the following report is true, AP could be facing more trouble than he realizes. While it may not be illegal to spank a child (in most states and/or depending on the level used), using a ‘switch’ — and to this degree — might be another story. Again, I realize the country is split on the belief of spanking a child, but let me reiterate with this question. If AP’s child did in fact take this beating, how can anyone think it’s okay to beat a child but not a woman?
This story comes within the same week the Ray Rice controversy has swept the nation.
Owners across the country are requesting to drop the first-round running back in fantasy leagues; Yahoo! is having the most issues it appears.
Peterson is 29-years-old and has six Pro Bowls and an NFL MVP on his resume.
Josh Helmuth is the editor of CraveOnline Sports
Photo Credit: Getty
