Adrian Peterson indicted, charged with reckless or negligent injury to a child

Posted by Michael David Smith on September 12, 2014, 4:40 PM EDT
AP

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has reportedly been indicted in Houston.

Fox 26 in Houston reports that Peterson was indicted in Montgomery County for reckless or negligent injury to a child. The incident in question reportedly stems from “disciplining of a son with a switch.”

The Vikings issued the following statement 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.”

Peterson missed practice on Thursday and the Vikings did not explain why, although they did say he was not injured. Peterson was back at practice today, and Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that Peterson gave no indication anything was wrong and was laughing and joking at the team facility.

Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports that Peterson will now have to turn himself in to Texas authorities, which makes his status for Sunday’s game against the Patriots unclear.

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184 responses to “Adrian Peterson indicted, charged with reckless or negligent injury to a child”

  7. Fidel Goodell: “No one this office, to my knowledge, has seen the video. Oh…we arent talking about Ray Rice ?”

  18. The NFL is getting to be like a bad soap opera…mixed with unthinkable stupidity like something you would see on Jerry springer.

  26. So, now the game has to deal with losing one of its marquee players. This is huge. Also, I can’t wait to see all the hypocrisy from those who were clamoring for Ray Rice’s head.

  30. What in the world is happening to the NFL? Remember when “trouble” meant Ken Stabler’s and John Riggins’ weekend shenanigans?

  32. Quick, let’s all jump to conclusions! All kidding aside, isn’t child negligence worse that spousal abuse? It depends of course. It depends if you are the best running back in the league or not.
    BTW: Peterson has a Houston-based lawyer? These guys have everything!

  35. Public Opinion Court

    1). Guilty
    2). Innocent
    3). Suspend him
    4). Lifetime Ban
    5). It’s Goodells fault
    6). He can play til he gets his Due Process

  38. Neglecting a child is worst then hitting an adult. Your move Roger….carefull you might not have any players left to suspend

  42. Bye bye HOF. Hello DOC! That’s the Dept of Corrections for those of us west of the St Croix!!!!

  44. Just when I thought NOBODY could be worse than Ray Rice or Michael Vick, Peterson has to prove me wrong…with hurting a child. My God, we need to get these players under control.

  46. Why are there no details? What did he do? there is a significant difference between “negligent” and “reckless” and both imply a lack of specific intent.

  47. The common trend in the NFL stories in the past few weeks: drugs, wife beaters, and now dead beat dads. Didn’t this guy just lose a child he wasn’t caring for to begin with? Is this a different child? Different mother? This is not the time to show the public the poor human beings they have marketing their product, the NFL. But hey, if you can play, you can stay.

    How are these human beings respected by their peers? The NFL is full of awful human beings and it starts at the top with Goodell.

  52. That’s much worse than slapping your girlfriend in an elevator. Isn’t it Roger???

    ———————————————————–
    How is it possible after 5,000 media stories and airings of the infamous elevator video that anyone still thinks Rice “slapped” his fiancee as opposed to punching her in the face and knocking her out cold?

    And what a sad commentary on society if we’re now ranking evil acts on a “what’s worse?” scale.

  59. Smh…..sigh……I don’t even know what to say or think anymore. Not a Vikings fan, nor have him on my fantasy team, so no dumb bias here.

    As a husband and father, I am now just sad. Sad and disappointed in the way some of these guys are acting. Sad that I will have to explain this stuff to my young children much earlier than I thought. Sigh……

  61. How about we all wait til more evidence comes out before we all freak out. Everyone take your pills and chill out.

  64. I lost respect for AP when I found out he MET his 2 year old son at the boy’s funeral. If the poor child hadn’t been murdered, I wonder how much longer AP would have waited before trying to meet him.

  69. Doud Gottlieb has just reported that it has somehing to do with disciplining his child with a “switch”.

  73. I guess the Vikes will loose this week thats for sure, anyhow all joking aside one needs more details as to what may have happened. For all you may know some baby mama is trumping up some fake charges. If he indeed caused severe injury to his kid, then he should be punished accordingly.

  74. Maybe the NFL just needs a rule that if you get arrested and convicted for anything while on a team that you are out of the league for life. Think players might behave a little better knowing they could lose everything?

  79. Apparently, the grand jury already decided there was not enough evidence once, but the DA went back a second time and got an indictment.

    If I had to guess, I would speculate that this will be “he said, she said” with a woman that AD has a kid with.

    Innocent until proven guilty, folks!

  80. There is a lot missing here. Reckless or negligent could be anything…and not even abusive. Maybe his kid fell out of a shopping cart or something. Too many unknowns still.

  82. I think the punishment for “reckless or negligent injury to a child” is the electric chair in Texas. They don’t play in that state. Don’t Mess With Texas!

  83. nothing here but some prosecutor trying to make a name for himself on the back of a famous player…spank that prosecutor too while you’re at it…kids today….sheesh.

  85. LOL the Patriots fan doesn’t think he should play on Sunday? Shocking. Without knowing a single thing about what happened. Or when it happened.

  87. He has like 7 kids from 7 different women. Remember the son who died last year that he never met? Negligent injury means he probably wasn’t around when the kid was in his care, and the child maybe burnt himself on the stove, etc.

    But seriously, he’s a sh*tty dad.

  91. An indictment is usually very bad news, and he got himself some top shelf legal talent, but all the same I’d want to see exactly what the indictment says. Texas grand juries in some counties have been known to go a little off the rails, if you know what I mean, and you can bet his lawyer has told Adrian to say nothing to anybody, and that includes everybody on the team, and anybody from the NFL. So everybody will be jumping to conclusions in the next 24 hours, but I suspect very, very few people actually know what happened.

  92. I guess AP loses his job now? Geez, this court of public opinion makes me sick. You’re all a big bag of richards!

  97. Guy was always a terrible “father” having impregnated a bunch of woman all over the country and not even seeing some of his kids.

    The NFL needs to implement some life counseling for the first month a rookie signs and the first week of each training camp for everyone else (and that includes management)

  98. If a grand jury indicted Peterson, there is enough evidence to convict him of a crime, assuming the prosecution can get past the mountain of cash Peterson will throw at this case.

    Peterson should be suspended immediately and not allowed to play until the case is final.

  100. The dynasty is over.

    Before it even got started.

    The 4-0 preseason record wasted.

    Beating the Rams in Wk 1 with 3rd string QB – dang

    All the other teams in the NFL are not jealous.

    Thank goodness we still have Toby Gerhart. Oh, wait. Maybe that other white fella.

    Oh well, at least we won’t be extending our winless streak in the Super Bowl ’cause we ain’t gettin’ there.

    Still
    Keep
    On
    Losing!!!! SKOL!!!!

  101. the NFL REALLY needs some video of Tiger Woods kicking a puppy or Lebron James flipping out in a daycare center to get bumped out of the news cycle spotlight.

    (no, neither has happened!)

    I hope that the child is ok

  103. Did he know the child? That would make it ‘domestic’ and illustrate clearly to the NFL that all violence, be it domestic or otherwise, should not be tolerated.

  105. WTH did he do? I thought he just lost a child to abuse so why would he turn around and do something like this? SMFH

  113. He had that issue last year where his child that he pretty much didn’t even know about was killed by baby mamas boyfriend. Apparently this guy is a horrible parent and he should be ordered to undergo a vasectomy.

  115. He was harassed by TX police last year, and it all fell apart. Wait to see what this is before assuming Texas police get it right against an African-American Viking.

  116. The shocking aspect to the case isn’t that Adrian Peterson knocked his kid around, its that he even knows who his kids are! Uusally he doesn’t even meet them until its time to attend their funeral.

  117. The allegation is that he beat his son. “Beat” could mean many different things depending on your point of view. One parent’s spanking is another parent’s beating. This son doesn’t live with him, so I say if he isn’t a regular part of his life, he shouldn’t be punishing him physically. Not sure if it’s criminal, though.

  119. Maybe the NFL just needs a rule that if you get arrested and convicted for anything while on a team that you are out of the league for life. Think players might behave a little better knowing they could lose everything?

    Um…what if you arrested and convicted of not paying parking tickets?

  121. Rusty Hardin, pretty sure that was Roger Clemons lawyer. We saw how well that worked for Clemons.

  122. Funny Know what even knows what he is accused of doing much less has been convicted of and we are throwing him to the wolves and making generalizations and accusations. Hell he could have had a child in the front seat without a seatbelt for all we know. When you throw out your AP stuff just let me know where I can find it.

  123. Also note that Peterson married another woman in MN this summer, and that this case has been around for “months” according to one report. Peterson is cooperating. It is about discipline, reportedly using a “switch” for discipline. Remember: Hell hath no fury………..

  124. “Wait, was this the kid of that one woman Mary or Maria or something, or is this that hot one from Dallas – Becky or Betsy or sumpt’n like dat? Or that one, I forget her name, with the hot pink pants we met at the beach?”

  127. Child abuse is not that same thing as putting a child in the front seat without a seatbelt.

    “Sources connected to Peterson tell us … the alleged victim is a male child from Minnesota who was visiting Adrian back in May at AP’s home in Texas.

    We’re told the child returned home to his mother in Minn. who noticed injuries and took the child to a doctor. A short time later, the doctor contacted authorities in Texas to report Adrian. “

  128. Goodell should be fired if he hasn’t seen the video of this kid’s backside.

    Or he should be fired if he has seen that video.

    Meh, either way, right?

  131. I hope there’s a video that exists that Goodell claims he asked for but didn’t get but that a Houston prosecutor sent it to his secretary and has a recording of the secretary saying “it’s bad” and then Goodell says that the video is ambiguous (even though he never saw it) and then the owners defend him because he makes them a bazillion dollars a year and then Goodell says he’s going to suspend Peterson for 2 years to deflect criticism and then…..

  132. Why is everyone jumping to conclusions before anyone has any idea of what is even going on? even if he swatted his kids but with a stick is that really considered child abuse in this day and age? More kids need a good switch to the butt then maybe they wouldn’t be shooting up schools and disrespecting adults. Kids no days have lost their minds. Pretty soon yelling or raising your voice to a kid will be considered child abuse. For all we know he could have been teaching and playing football with the kid and he fell and scrapped his knee and the kids mother decided to attempt to strike gold. If he was teaching a kid to ride his bike and the kid fell down during the process does that make him worse than a woman beater? How about let the facts come out before you all get your pitch forks and torches.

  133. redsghost says:
    Sep 12, 2014 5:14 PM
    Rusty Hardin, pretty sure that was Roger Clemons lawyer. We saw how well that worked for Clemons.
    —
    Yeah…he skated…so, what’s your point??

  135. There are no in-betweens with this case. It’s either something minor and completely over-blown, or it’s an incredible display of stupidity and recklessness by the father of another boy was beaten to death less than a year ago.

  137. karlsummers says:
    Sep 12, 2014 4:51 PM
    Just when I thought NOBODY could be worse than Ray Rice or Michael Vick, Peterson has to prove me wrong…with hurting a child. My God, we need to get these players under control.
    ——————————-
    Ahhh…Rae Caruth ring a bell? Worse than all three combined. Further proof that many have no sense of history…

  139. No Real Men Of Valor left in the NFL, which is now mainly composed of domestic abusers, druggies and fly-by-nighters.

  141. Don’t ever take your kids paint balling or teach them to ride a bike or teach them to play sports. That’s grounds for child abuse.

    Only in America is the legal system this stupid and pathetic to indict or charge someone with child abuse for spanking or swatting your kids butt when they act a fool. You get more of a sting from a bee than a switch. waaaa!!!! Its not like he tied the kid to a tree and flogged or canned him. Onoes a kid got his butt swatted with a twig someone call the cops.

  142. Texas justice.

    That’s why I don’t care to go down there.

    That, and the Cowboys and Jerry Jones.

  143. It’s gotta be tough being a ‘Serial Dad’. I bleed ‘Purple’, but I’m tired of AP and the entire crew of young NFL’ers.
    “It’s 11 O’Clock…do you know where your children are?” AP must have to listen to this message in every time zone.
    Some HEROS you NFL Players have turned out to be.

  145. Well this is domestic violence isn’t it. Why should he be suspended or kicked out like Ray Rice.

  146. So the kid got a spanking, by Peterson or by someone he to care for the child?

    A spanking?

    Come on man.

  147. are you kidding? disciplining your snot nosed kids gets you ‘child abuse’ claims? good lord. if anything, we need much much MORE of this type of discipline.

    most of you have such small critical thinking capacities its just pathetic. you read child abuse in the headline and don’t read details. this is called a parent disciplining their kid, morons.

    i applaud you, adrian peterson. straighten that boogar faced brat out.

  150. wallabear real men of valor discipline their kids and teach them how to be respectful adults. Parents who just let their kids do whatever they want and get away with whatever they want join gangs, shoot up schools, get into drugs and become criminals because they don’t think anything they do is wrong and they think they don’t ever need to be accountable for their actions. I am not condoning actual child abuse, but spanking a kids butt. Is that really a crime?Notice how back in the day when it was normal to do that kids for the most part were all well behaved. It was safe for your kids to go to public schools and play step foot outside their door even if it was dark outside. Real child abuse should be parents buying their kids games like Grand Theft Auto and letting they enjoy and think its cool to kill cops, rape and kill hookers and take their money, and deal drugs.

  151. Hey, Commish …
    Gonna’ ignore this one, too ?

    By the way, Jerry, since the cowboys seem attracted to misfits, here’s your chance !

  152. “11 year old son went with dad for the weekend to Texas with AD. Comes home to Minn, and mom sees marks or something and calls the cops in TX.”

    Does the 11 year old have a white mom? Or are him and the mom on the outs?

    Because in the south (white or black) spankings are a way of life (though upper class whites may not spank anymore) – though I know past the Mason Dixon line spanking is frowned upon.

    Now the rule is down here you can’t leave any marks. So if the kid had marks, that would be considered abuse by today’s metrics.

    This case seems like it very well may be a whole bunch of cultural, mixed with baby mama, drama of the highest order.

  154. I can’t believe all these negative comments! What happened to ‘innocent until proven guilty’? The general public has NONE of the details yet the public are the ones who crucify the suspect! The voice of strong public opinion and the public calling for the commissioners resignation can, and in some cases will, result in an innocent person being condemned. How many times have we heard of cases where ‘civilians’ try toexploit the rich and famous? How would you feel if you were the accused yet innocent?

  155. “We’re told the child returned home to his mother in Minn. who noticed injuries and took the child to a doctor. A short time later, the doctor contacted authorities in Texas to report Adrian. ”

    So the mom didn’t think to call his dad or ask him (the kid) what was up?

  156. Its not agaist the law to use a switch, spoon, or a belt as long as they are used to enforce the punishment as a symbol of the seriousness of what they did wrong and not to inflict damage.You have to have hurt your kid pretty bad to get a Southern Grand Jury to accept an indictment for punishing your kid.

  157. Is this serious, lol? Maybe if more people whipped their kids when they get out of line, we weouldn’t have the screwed up world we have today. People spaking of this like it’s child abuse need to get a life and sound like the coddled types that this country’s turned into over the last 25 years.

  159. These people trying to crucify Peterson for swatting a kids butt are probably the same people who are trying to get the Vikings to use bird safe glass on their stadium. Lets have a giant glass stadium with pokadots all over it because that would be pretty awesome looking.

  160. seahawkswilson – I am pretty sure the vikings can still have a decent season even if AP is by some great stupidity suspended. He put up 0 points against the RAMS and we still “spanked” them 🙂

  161. @macjacmccoy-

    Indeed. This clearly isn’t a “he said/she said” deal or a small-time prosecutor looking to make a name for himself. As you pointed out, this is an actual indictment.

    For those that don’t understand what this means, it means that evidence was presented to a Grand Jury and they found just cause to bring the matter before a judge and/or jury.

    This doesn’t automatically mean that he’s guilty, but it does mean that there’s some pretty strong evidence. I don’t think writing a fat check is going to help him this time.

  164. Lol I’m sorry if I find this funny but I got beat with switches all the time by my grandparents and parents. These new child laws are the reason kids are growing up with no respect. So what unless his kid is hospitalized or permantly bruised this is a non story. I mean seriously ask any black man what they parents and grandparents used to beat them. The answer will be “the first item they saw on their right” lol

  165. Just what the NFL needs, another serious charge against one of their inmates…. er….. players.
    The NFL wants a team in L.A, right? Why don’t they just let a maximum security prison in California start a team and they can play in L.A.
    Their uniforms would be neat, with lots of verticl stripes and their prison numbers on their backs where the name tags go.
    They could call themselves the L.A. Jailbirds. And they’d have a good team in no time because a lot of free agents from other teams would love to play for them since they probably would know many of them. It would be like a reunion for them.

  166. He was indicted. Ray McDonald was not charged after almost 2 weeks yet everyone wants to crucify McDonald and ban for life etc based on allegations

  167. This is what should happen.
    1. Let him play Roger
    2. Let law enforcement take a bite of the apple first.
    3. Suspend him after his punishment from law enforcement as warranted under the conduct policy rule.

    This is what you should have done with Rice. This is what should happen with all those domestic cases pending. I bet most of them have not gone through law enforcement because those players and their wives/gf want you to be the damn judge. You are not. Send them all through law enforcement first no matter how much the player and his parter is begging not to do it.

  168. This is no longer the age of “taking your kid out to the woodshed”. It’s just as bad as knocking out your wife. I swear,more players in the NFL are not right in the head. Let’s see how they deal with this one. Idiot.

  169. Laughing and joking, that sounds about right. He was all ready to play the day after his other son died. The son that, by the way, I could even see the pictures of his son’s birthday party on Facebook as the mom’s Facebook page was completely open. Obviously, Mr. Big Shot couldn’t be bothered. By the way, the injuries are supposedly much more serious than a little swat. Do you really think Texas authorities, of all people, would issue an arrest warrant for him if they weren’t?

  171. A>P is very unstable and should get counseling immediately. He has some child hood issues that he is dealing with as a result of the things that his father did to him as a child. He has a pattern that must be addressed and if you didnt see it when his son was announced dead then you are totally blind. He is mentally unstable and it is very unfortunate.

  172. read another article on this one earlier. If it’s even half true the ban hammer will be coming out swinging. Even the kids nuts? really?

  173. A>P is very unstable and should get counseling immediately. He has some child hood issues that he is dealing with as a result of the things that his father did to him as a child. He needs help.

  174. With the assistance of liberal reporters who are more interested in being part of the PC police than in reporting on sports, the libs are well on their way towards getting rid of the NFL and football. Too bad politicians aren’t subject to the same scrutiny, well at least liberal ones. Bill Clinton would have been chastised and impeached. So would a lot of others.

    Personally, as a fan, I want to hear the announcers talking about the sport, not the rest of the garbage. The fact is that this is all about a specific liberal agenda and has nothing to do with domestic violence. Let law enforcement deal with crimes and let sports deal with sports.

    Oh, and in case the libs and media haven’t figured it out, that’s why all those women were wearing Rice jersey’s last night. They were really telling the media where they can put it.

  175. Adrian Peterson is a very stupid man. There is no excuse for hitting a child’s bare skin ever. To do so with a “switch” just shows depravity. I do not care if you are north or south of the Mason-Dixon line – it unacceptable. I am a life-long Vikings fan and could not careless if the league banned Adrian Peterson for life. I am glad to see the Vikings organization has already deactivate this POS for Sunday’s game.

  176. I once had a police officer explain to me, in his particular state, you could swat your child with an open hand but, as soon as you closed your hand, making a fist, or used any foreign object, it was considered Corporal Punishment and illegal.

    I was raised (50-60 yrs ago), along with 2 brothers, by a single mom and she had to rule with an iron fist. We were regularly whipped with switches and plastic fly swatters. (She left whelts on us but never broke the skin.) Heaven help us if we got into trouble at school! First whacks by the school principal and then more when we got home. Now, in California, you don’t dare even yell at your kids in public.

    So, let’s see how badly God-dell handles this.

  177. Whipping a 4 year old.

    That’s harsh discipline right out of the British Navy hundreds of years ago.

    It leads to the questions of what this 4 year old did do deserve the lashes and how many lashes were given with the switch?

    Once those are known we can debate if this is an abuse of his parental authority during visitation time with one of his biological offspring.

  178. I’m 34 and grew up in Kentucky and got spanked with a belt or a switch. However, what Adrian Peterson did to his FOUR year old son is not okay. For those of you asking who reported it or assuming it was an angry ex, it was actually the child’s doctor because he had open wounds all over his body! The little boy is a toddler and Adrian Peterson whipped him until he had open cut all over and bruising! That’s extreme!

    “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.

    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.”

  179. If my toddler came home from his father’s house with open wounds on his back and thighs and defensive cuts to his little hands, I would kill his father! Seriously, he should be put down like a bad dog if he can whip a four year old until he opens cuts up all over his body. The more I think about this story the more angry I get! He could have killed that little toddler. Spanking is one thing, but open wounds on the child’s back, thighs and hands and visible bruising is sadistic and criminal!

  180. Not all of the info is in right now . But I feel that more children in this country need to be disciplined . I think it’s really sad when the parents can’t discipline their own children but the School system can . You show me any article where a School system was indicted on spanking a child that left welts or bruises on a child . As long as the child didn’t have cuts ,bruises or welts on him then I don’t see a problem . Hold on till all of the. Facts are in it might be a mother that is still holding a grudge on him . This is Texas law requiring this for all we kno they are saying he gave the kid mental anguish from the spanking ” According to Texas law, a person can be convicted of an injury to a child offense if they are proven to have caused bodily or mental injury “intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence” or causing such harm by omission. A child, by this definition, must be 14 years old or younger “. Let all the facts come out first . Unlike the Rice case this wasn’t on camera .

  181. Ok I take most of my previous post back I just seen the pics on the news and the kid had injures to his backside . Some was healing and some were still pretty fresh . I do believe he went way to far punishing this child .. And the mother would have been neglectful if she didn’t take him to the doctor when she seen the cuts on the child ..

  183. Pictures of the marks on Adrian Peterson’s son is clear that he used excessive and abusive physical punishment on his son. HELLO…This is child abuse and it is alarming that people here have posted messages that explain that it is ok!

  184. I originally thought he had a right to dicipline his child as he saw fit. Then I saw the pictures. That was a beating, not discipline. He’s admitted it, and thought nothing of it. The “man” hit a 4 year old on the scrotum, face, and all over the body, drawing blood. He may get off with a good lawyer and avoid jail but no team will touch him now, he is done. (Well except Dallas, Jerry is dementia’d enough.)

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