NFL star Adrian Peterson indicted for 'hitting his four-year-old son with a cane'

Peterson is a running back with the Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (Reuters)

American football has been plunged into further unwelcome controversy with the indictment of a leading player on child abuse charges.

Adrian Peterson, a running back with the Minnesota Vikings, has been accused of reckless or negligent treatment of a child for hitting his son with a piece of tree branch.

The indictment comes in the wake of the controversy over Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice knocking his then fiancée, Janay Palmer, apparently unconscious in a lift.

Rice’s behaviour prompted public questions over the way domestic violence is often tolerated, with his lawyer describing the knock-out punch as a “minor physical altercation”.

Peterson, regarded as one of the best players in the NFL and in his ninth season at the Vikings, has been under investigation for disciplining his four-year-old son.

A draft police report, obtained by a radio station in Texas, suggests that the player admitted he did “whoop” one of his children in May.

The alleged abuse took place when the boy was visiting him in Houston and the boy’s mother took him to a doctor on his return to Minnesota.

The boy is said to have told a doctor his father struck him with a branch from a tree. The doctor reportedly 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.”

A statement issued by the Minnesota Vikings said: “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.”

Peterson is understood to be co-operating with the investigators and gave a statement to a grand jury last week. The offence carried a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.