Hours after news surfaced that Vikings running back Adrian Peterson had been indicted in Texas for "reckless or negligent injury to a child," his attorney, Rusty Hardin, released the following 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.”
According to Sports Radio 610, which obtained a copy of the police reports: "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."
Meanwhile, police reports tell a different story. via of Sports Radio 610:
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 team also released a statement earlier Friday afternoon: "The Vikings are in the process of gathering information regarding the legal situation involving Adrian Peterson. At this time, we will defer further questions to Adrian’s attorney Rusty Hardin."
On Friday evening, the Vikings announced that they had deactivated Peterson for Sunday's game against the Patriots.
