Peterson charge a crisis for league Child abuse case tests new rules

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson’s booking on a child abuse charge Saturday has created another crisis for the embattled NFL, already derided for not responding strongly enough to acts of domestic violence by its players. It also has touched off a national debate about the role of corporal punishment in parenting. In the eyes of a Texas grand jury, Peterson crossed the line when he repeatedly struck his son with a tree branch, or switch, in May. Peterson’s attorney has said he has never run from what happened — and that Peterson was inflicting the same discipline he endured as a child. “Obviously, parents are entitled to discipline their children as they see fit, except when that discipline exceeds what the community would say is reasonable,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Phil Grant said about 12 hours after Peterson was booked and released from jail and released on $15,000 bond. He is charged with causing injury to a child age 14 or younger. The Vikings almost immediately decided to deactivate him for the game today against the New England Patriots, and NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said Saturday that Peterson’s case “will be reviewed under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.” Peterson’s case is complicated by his stance that he meant his son no harm but rather was applying the same discipline he experienced growing up. “Adrian is a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to discipline his son,” Peterson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin said. Steve Eudey, who coached Peterson as a young boy in Palestine, Texas, and has remained a family friend, said he has heard stories from Peterson about his father Nelson “being a firm disciplinarian.” “I will go to my grave defending Adrian, but at the same time you can’t harm a child, either,” Eudey said. “I know that was never his intent.” It’s not unusual for people subjected to physical discipline as children to use corporal punishment against their own children, experts say, and courts will sometimes consider that as a mitigating factor when sentencing an abuser. Peterson faces up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine if found guilty. While the legal process plays out, the NFL is facing a potential test case for the tougher penalties it declared last month for players involved with domestic violence. Commissioner Roger Goodell announced an initial offense will draw a six-week suspension without pay, though “more severe discipline will be imposed if there are aggravating circumstances. Corporal punishment is legal in Texas, and the law spells out that nondeadly force against a child by a parent or guardian is permissible. But the punishment is abusive if it causes injury. No decision had been made about Peterson’s outlook this season, and no court date had been set in Texas.