MINNEAPOLIS - The Hennepin County prosecutor asked a district judge Friday to bar Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson from using corporal punishment or having unsupervised visits with the 4-year-old son he is accused of abusing in Texas.
The petition seeks an order that would manage Peterson’s joint custody of the boy who lives with his mother in the county.
Prosecutor Mike Freeman said state law requires his office to request the protection order when criminal charges are filed alleging serious injuries against a child.
The Vikings banished their franchise player indefinitely this week as Peterson prepares to defend himself against the felony child abuse charge.
A Montgomery County grand jury last week indicted Peterson after he allegedly disciplined his son with a switch during the child’s visit to his offseason home outside Houston in May.
“Our own internal investigation has revealed that the injuries were serious enough to meet the legal threshold,” Freeman said in a statement.
“Due to state privacy laws, as well as the understandable desire of the mother to protect her child’s privacy, we will not comment further on this petition.”
The Hennepin County petition details injuries that mirror grand jury evidence and police reports revealed in Houston media reports after Peterson was indicted Sept. 11.
After the boy returned to Minnesota from a two-week visit with Peterson, his mother reported to Hennepin Child Protective Services that he was the “victim of aggravated physical abuse by his father,” according to the petition.
On May 22, the petition said, the boy showed his “owies” to a pediatrician and a nurse practitioner.
Their examination showed bruising and 10 cuts and switch marks on the child’s right thigh, as well as a bruised right testicle and an abrasion on his scrotum.
Three switch marks were found on his left thigh and two on his back, along with marks on his right hand and bruises on his buttocks, the petition said.
When asked what happened, the boy said, “I got whooped by a switch.” And when asked who did it, he replied “his dad,” according to the petition.
Rusty Hardin, Peterson’s defense lawyer in Houston, did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.
Hennepin County said the boy’s mother has been “fully cooperative” with authorities and has not allowed Peterson to have any contact with the child at the request of Child Protective Services.
Kelly Dohm, a Waconia lawyer who this week said she represent’s the boy’s mother, also did not respond to messages Friday.
Peterson is scheduled to appear Oct. 8 in Montgomery County District Court in Texas, where he is expected to formally enter a plea.
Causing injury to a child is a felony in Texas, punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted. Peterson has denied in statements abusing his son and is preparing to defend himself at trial as a parent who chose that manner to discipline his child.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, whose league has been besieged by criticism over its recent handling of domestic violence cases against its players, addressed the Peterson case for the first time Friday during a news conference in New York.
“While I’m disappointed in what Adrian Peterson is involved with, we want to see the facts,” Goodell said. “What we’ve seen so far is tragic.”
The Pioneer Press is a media partner with the Forum News Service
