Adrian Peterson Indicted For Brutally Beating 4-Year-Old Son

Continuing what has been undoubtedly the worst week in the history of the NFL, on Friday Minnesota Vikings superstar running back Adrian Peterson was indicted in Texas for reckless or negligent injury to a child. A warrant has since been issued for his arrest.

According to various reports, Peterson assaulted his 4-year-old with a “switch,” which is basically a stick, after he pushed another child off a motorcycle video game. He has admitted to the incident and even texted the child’s mother to say that he had gotten carried away.

Peterson also claimed that, while he does “whoop” his children on occasion, he never goes “overboard.” Although the boy’s statement and the still very visible injuries on his body more than a week later tell a different story.

Image: Houston PD

Image: Houston PD

According to CBS Houston’s Nick Wright:

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.”

The beating resulted in injuries to the boy’s back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum. He also had significant defensive wounds on his hands, suggesting he attempted shield himself from Peterson’s attack. CBS Minnesota has additional photos, which were released by the Houston Police Department.

It’s worth nothing that Peterson has been fully cooperating with the investigation for months, at one point speaking for over 40 minutes about the incident with police. He has maintained throughout that the beating was what he considered normal spanking and not excessive.

Peterson missed Thursday’s practice, but was back with his teammates on Friday. With the threat of arrest looming large, the Vikings decided to deactivate Peterson for Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

At this point the length of Peterson’s absence from the lineup is unknown and the team has deferred all questions to his attorney.