A new allegation that NFL star Adrian Peterson injured another son while disciplining the 4-year-old child were immediately dismissed Monday evening by his lawyer.
"The allegation of another investigation into Adrian Peterson is simply not true," Peterson's attorney Adam Schefter said in a statement. "The allegation is more than one year old and authorities took no action. An adult witness admittedly insists Adrian did nothing inappropriate with his son."
FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2014, file photo, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson warms up for an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam, File)
On Monday afternoon, KHOU-TV reported that photos and text messages revealed the NFL player was involved in another incident while disciplining a child. The photo reportedly showed the child with a head wound.
However, sources told TMZ that the reason the investigation did not advance was because Peterson did not hit the 4-year-old. Instead, the boy accidentally hit his head on a carseat while being punished, sources told the celebrity gossip website.
Peterson returned to the Vikings on Minnesota Monday, saying he wants "everyone to understand how sorry I feel about the hurt I have brought to my child."[sharequote align="right"]"I am not a perfect parent, but I am, without a doubt, not a child abuser."[/sharequote]
The Vikings had benched Peterson for Sunday's 30-7 home loss to the New England and he had not commented publicly since news broke Friday that he had lashed the boy with the switch earlier this summer, causing an unspecified injuries.
"I am not a perfect son. I am not a perfect husband. I am not a perfect parent, but I am, without a doubt, not a child abuser," Peterson said in a nearly 500-word statement issued through his agency. "I am someone that disciplined his child and did not intend to cause him any injury.
"No one can understand the hurt that I feel for my son and for the harm I caused him. My goal is always to teach my son right from wrong and that's what I tried to do that day."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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