Since it was announced that Adrian Peterson had been indicted on charges of “reckless or negligent injury to a child”, the last few hours have seemed like a lifetime. What has come to light since, if true, has been quite shocking to say the least.
Here is what we know:
Peterson has been charged in relation to discipline he gave his 4-year old-son in May of this year, while in Texas. When the child returned to his mother, he was taken to a doctor and police were informed. During the incident, Peterson used what is known as a switch, a branch or flexible stick. In a draft police report obtained by Radio 610 in Houston, the following was stated.
“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.” (CBS)
Peterson has been cooperating fully with the investigation and spoke at length to a grand jury several weeks ago, when he was away from training camp on the 21st August. The grand jury did not indict on the first billing of evidence on September 4th but on the second hearing.
Peterson’s Lawyer, Rusty Hardin, released the following statement not too long ago:
“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.” (pioneer press)
As of this moment, there is an arrest warrant for Peterson. This may be because he is still in Minnesota and is a mere formality. His family have indicated he plans to turn himself over to authorities. The team has taken the steps of deactivating him for Sunday’s game against New England and are currently investigating the matter further.
This is truly shocking, and there are no words to explain how upsetting this is. As more information becomes available, the lack of empathy on Peterson’s part is becoming apparent. You have to remember this is someone who lost a child to abuse no less than a year ago. He has shown no remorse for his actions and has indicated that they, in his view, were acceptable. CBS obtained a police statement taken from the child in question in which the following is stated,
“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.” (CBS)
Caution is advised as some of the articles have not be verified by the authorities.
What next? Considering the week we have just had with Ray Rice, the Vikings are going to have to be very careful about how they treat this. Peterson has been deactivated from Sundays game and they have a history of internal suspensions, most recently with Mike Priefer and in the past with Chris Cook (although this was not handled very well).
There have already been calls for Peterson to be cut and it is hard to argue with them considering he has admitted to giving his child a “whooping”. If the ‘leaked’ photos turn out to be real then he should be cut, but we should wait to pass judgement as the story is still developing.
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