Adrian Peterson is facing a new child abuse allegation, with another woman claiming that the Minnesota Vikings running back struck a young boy while disciplining him.
The four-year-old boy in the new allegation is from a different mother than in the latest case from Montgomery County, Texas, which has left Peterson facing charges of felony injury to a child. Peterson admitted to striking that boy with a tree branch cut into a switch.
The new allegation of child abuse allegedly happened in June while the boy was staying with Adrian Peterson at his home in Spring, Texas, just outside of Houston.
Houston media outlet KHOU published text messages between Adrian Peterson and the boy’s mother about the incident.
Mother: “What happened to his head?”
Peterson: “Hit his head on the Carseat.”
Mother: “How does that happen, he got a whoopin in the car.”
Peterson: “Yep.”
Mother: “Why?”
Peterson: “I felt so bad. But he did it his self.”
Later text messages from Peterson claim he was disciplining his son for cussing to a sibling.
No charges were filed in the incident, KHOU reported, though the mother did file a report with Child Protective Services.
Adrian Peterson has apologized for the initial incident , saying he was only disciplining his child the way he was disciplined as a child.
“I have learned a lot and have had to reevaluate how I discipline my son going forward,” Peterson said in the statement. “But deep in my heart I have always believed I could have been one of those kids that was lost in the streets without the discipline instilled in me by my parents and other relatives. I have always believed that the way my parents disciplined me has a great deal to do with the success I have enjoyed as a man. I love my son and I will continue to become a better parent and learn from any mistakes I ever make.”
While Adrian Peterson has been reinstated Monday by the Minnesota Vikings, there is growing speculation that he could be de-activated again or face a possible suspension from the NFL .
[Photo via ESPN]
