Report: AP has been indicted on negligent injury to a child

[DavidSeven]

[urltargetblank]https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/ag_publications/txts/childabuse1.shtml[/urltargetblank]


Information on Texas Child Abuse Laws for those interested enough to read through. It does specifically say that laws allow for reasonable physical discipline

Looks like that exclusion only applies to parents/guardians of the child, though. AP would be held to a higher standard (assuming it wasn't his child).

Text: "The law specifically excludes “reasonable” discipline by the child’s parent, guardian, or conservator;"

The latest link I posted says it was his child and the child was 4. I'd previously read that it wasn't his child. Of course conflicting reports are to be expected this early in a case like this. I'm leaning towards believing the report that it was his child because the report with that includes images from the police report.

Either way though, if the child was in his care, I think that would count as guardianship, even if it was only temporary.

I would assume "guardian" in that text means "legal guardian" (i.e. someone appointed by the court to care for a minor). That's generally how it's interpreted in other statutes, and it's a term that carries specific legal significance when it's used.

 

[Marvin49]

As a father, those pictures are tough to look at.

 

[kidhawk]

Guardian is a specific term that doesn't apply to caring for someone else's child temporarily. You have to go through a bunch of training, get a Guardian Ad Litem appointed to assess your fitness and write a recommendation, get a court date, and be appointed a guardian and get it renewed annually where they review your financials and assess the kid.

Not that it seems to matter in this case since it appears that it was his child visiting after all, but Guardianship can be granted temporarily and I'd imagine if someone were sending their kid to visit family or friends, they'd grant limited custodial abilities to whomever was caring for that child at the time so the child could receive medical care, etc.

Even with it being his child though, the images of the marks and his own admission having done it and leaving those marks, I could see him pleading out this case and getting some type of probation.

It doesn't appear at this time, to be long term or particularly dangerous abuse, but more a case of overzealous discipline.

With the everything the NFL is going through right now though, his punishment from the NFL is likely to be far worse than whatever the judicial system throws at him

 

[lsheldon]

My god, I spent half my childhood getting hit with a switch, belt, or something that looked an awful lot like a cricket bat at school. Kids today.......

 

[-The Glove-]

So it was a 4 yr old son that was visiting him and a "switch" or small tree branch...this is ridiculous IMO

 

[Popeyejones]

Would never hit my kid and wasn't hit by my parents, but that's mostly a cultural thing for which I reserve judgement, despite having my own preferences. So too with using one's hand versus something like a belt or a switch (also cultural).

That said, my cultural relativism only goes so far, and if you're leaving scabs and bruises from smacking your kid as it appears ADP did from those pictures, you've crossed over into child abuse and state intervention is both reasonable and necessary, IMO.

Joking (read: casually trolling) question: How many pages will the thread calling for ADP to be sat down in the meantime be? Longer or shorter than the massive Greg Hardy thread that overtook the board? [/dumb trolling]

 

[mikeak]

I bet you the NFL is longing for the days of Minnesota players on a sex boat....... how much simpler that was

 

[hawk45]

As a father, those pictures are tough to look at.

Uh...me too, and I am okay with spanking, and if there's raised skin or slight bruising I wouldn't be up in arms.

Those marks show that the switch broke the skin in places. I can tell you beating a kid until they are cut and bleeding, even minor cuts, has no place in my parenting arsenal. The report said there were many cuts on the kid, on his hands too.

I'm not okay with that. If I'm a Mom who sent her 4 year old son to his Dad's for a measly visit and he came back like that I would shake with anger for days.

 

[Wagon12]

WOW.

NFL having a rough week.

Yup.

 

[mikeak]

As a father, those pictures are tough to look at.

Uh...me too, and I am okay with spanking, and if there's raised skin or slight bruising I wouldn't be up in arms.

Those marks show that the switch broke the skin in places. I can tell you beating a kid until they are cut and bleeding, even minor cuts, has no place in my parenting arsenal. The report said there were many cuts on the kid, on his hands too.

I'm not okay with that. If I'm a Mom who sent her 4 year old son to his Dad's for a measly visit and he came back like that I would shake with anger for days.

+1. I have spanked my child and afterwards gone "crap that was to hard it got really red" and felt really bad about it. That right there would have made me turn myself in

 

[kidhawk]

As a father, those pictures are tough to look at.

Uh...me too, and I am okay with spanking, and if there's raised skin or slight bruising I wouldn't be up in arms.

Those marks show that the switch broke the skin in places. I can tell you beating a kid until they are cut and bleeding, even minor cuts, has no place in my parenting arsenal. The report said there were many cuts on the kid, on his hands too.

I'm not okay with that. If I'm a Mom who sent her 4 year old son to his Dad's for a measly visit and he came back like that I would shake with anger for days.

The pictures leave little doubt that AP crossed the line when disciplining his child, and I believe he needs to have some type of punishment, which should definitely include supervision on any future visits with minor children, but I don't believe this is the type of abuse that warrants actual jail time unless there is a history of abuse.

 

[Popeyejones]

I bet you the NFL is longing for the days of Minnesota players on a sex boat....... how much simpler that was

:lol:

 

[hawk45]

Guardian is a specific term that doesn't apply to caring for someone else's child temporarily. You have to go through a bunch of training, get a Guardian Ad Litem appointed to assess your fitness and write a recommendation, get a court date, and be appointed a guardian and get it renewed annually where they review your financials and assess the kid.

Not that it seems to matter in this case since it appears that it was his child visiting after all, but Guardianship can be granted temporarily and I'd imagine if someone were sending their kid to visit family or friends, they'd grant limited custodial abilities to whomever was caring for that child at the time so the child could receive medical care, etc.

Even with it being his child though, the images of the marks and his own admission having done it and leaving those marks, I could see him pleading out this case and getting some type of probation.

It doesn't appear at this time, to be long term or particularly dangerous abuse, but more a case of overzealous discipline.

With the everything the NFL is going through right now though, his punishment from the NFL is likely to be far worse than whatever the judicial system throws at him

Agreed the point is moot but parents don't grant temporary guardianships for visits with friends, and transfer of that kind of authority would only occur if the situation were more permanent. Has anyone you know ever gone to court to get papers so that friends or family could consent to medical procedures during a visit?

Legal guardians have to actually appoint standby guardians (who are also vetted and also have papers) in case the guardian is out of pocket, but that is done at the time the guardianship is established.

When there's a parent in the picture, they cannot transfer their authority or have it usurped or overridden on a temporary basis easily without renouncing their own rights or being committed or the kid being adopted by someone else...permanent things.

When the kid is in a friend's custody they do have discretion on certain small things (not finances, not medical, etc., similar to when your child is at school or anywhere you are not), but that law is saying that unless they are a parent or legal guardian, that act was way outside the discretionary zone.

(I'm a legal guardian)

 

[rigelian]

I suspected that it must have been a substantial "whooping" to get an indictment out of Texas. The photos I've seen suggests that it was substantial. When tied to an expert testifying that it was abuse... Well the indictment is no mystery. I'm quite sure that this is going to open up the war between the spare the rod and spoil the child segment and the all corporal punishment is abuse side. Expect a lot of meaningless jabber from the media. The NFL, if it's smart should let the system sort this out.

 

[Yoonhawk]

I got far worse from a loving father, and I'm young enough to be a millennial. Physical punishment typically is not child abuse.

If he physically disciplined someone else's child, to me that is between him and that kid's parents. It's not something the authorities or NFL should be concerned over, unless it produced significant injury of course.

I fear for the next generation if parents aren't allowed to discipline their kids. I suspect the massive uptick in 21st century narcissism is equal parts internet and a culture that frowns upon physical discipline. There was a great article in Time magazine lately about how most infants display sociopath traits (for explainable biological reasons), but grow out of it due to life experience and discipline. If society curbs discipline you'll have more Joffrey Baratheon personality types running around in the world.

Deleted for content against forum policies attacking a poster.

 

[Lxx]

i suppose it depends on the severity of the switch impact but Adrian Peterson has like 20 kids, which he spends no time at all with them.

 

[kidhawk]

Guardian is a specific term that doesn't apply to caring for someone else's child temporarily. You have to go through a bunch of training, get a Guardian Ad Litem appointed to assess your fitness and write a recommendation, get a court date, and be appointed a guardian and get it renewed annually where they review your financials and assess the kid.

Not that it seems to matter in this case since it appears that it was his child visiting after all, but Guardianship can be granted temporarily and I'd imagine if someone were sending their kid to visit family or friends, they'd grant limited custodial abilities to whomever was caring for that child at the time so the child could receive medical care, etc.

Even with it being his child though, the images of the marks and his own admission having done it and leaving those marks, I could see him pleading out this case and getting some type of probation.

It doesn't appear at this time, to be long term or particularly dangerous abuse, but more a case of overzealous discipline.

With the everything the NFL is going through right now though, his punishment from the NFL is likely to be far worse than whatever the judicial system throws at him

Agreed the point is moot but parents don't grant temporary guardianships for visits with friends, and transfer of that kind of authority would only occur if the situation were more permanent. Has anyone you know ever gone to court to get papers so that friends or family could consent to medical procedures during a visit?

Legal guardians have to actually appoint standby guardians (who are also vetted and also have papers) in case the guardian is out of pocket, but that is done at the time the guardianship is established.

When there's a parent in the picture, they cannot transfer their authority or have it usurped or overridden on a temporary basis easily without renouncing their own rights or being committed or the kid being adopted by someone else...permanent things.

When the kid is in a friend's custody they do have discretion on certain small things (not finances, not medical, etc., similar to when your child is at school or anywhere you are not), but that law is saying that unless they are a parent or legal guardian, that act was way outside the discretionary zone.

(I'm a legal guardian)

I wasn't attempting to try to say that there would be any fully legal transfer of guardianship in these cases, only that the intent of the law is likely going to interpret in someone's care as reasonable for discipline purposes. We'll never really know, because that's not what is going on here. Either way, with images like what I linked earlier, it's abuse whether it's a parent, a guardian or some stranger down the street.

 

[hawk45]

As a father, those pictures are tough to look at.

Uh...me too, and I am okay with spanking, and if there's raised skin or slight bruising I wouldn't be up in arms.

Those marks show that the switch broke the skin in places. I can tell you beating a kid until they are cut and bleeding, even minor cuts, has no place in my parenting arsenal. The report said there were many cuts on the kid, on his hands too.

I'm not okay with that. If I'm a Mom who sent her 4 year old son to his Dad's for a measly visit and he came back like that I would shake with anger for days.

The pictures leave little doubt that AP crossed the line when disciplining his child, and I believe he needs to have some type of punishment, which should definitely include supervision on any future visits with minor children, but I don't believe this is the type of abuse that warrants actual jail time unless there is a history of abuse.

Anyone know what sort of sentence "negligible injuring of a child" carries?

I...I don't know if I'd rule out jail if it were me. Not "throw away the key" type jail, but I think I'd be just fine if he got something equivalent or better than someone who committed a similar assault on a stranger. I think I might want the penalty to be a bit harsher given it was a kid he did it to.

Since he has no history then yeah, maybe don't revoke his custody or visitation forever and ever. But the spot punishment should send the message he damaged a kid.

I mean you spend a night in jail for a DUI.

 

[Shadowhawk]

As a father, those pictures are tough to look at.

Uh...me too, and I am okay with spanking, and if there's raised skin or slight bruising I wouldn't be up in arms.

Those marks show that the switch broke the skin in places. I can tell you beating a kid until they are cut and bleeding, even minor cuts, has no place in my parenting arsenal. The report said there were many cuts on the kid, on his hands too.

I'm not okay with that. If I'm a Mom who sent her 4 year old son to his Dad's for a measly visit and he came back like that I would shake with anger for days.

Agreed. Between the pics and the account of where the boy was struck, Peterson went too far in my opinion.

EDIT: This makes it even worse:

@getnickwright: It should be understood that the photographs that some have published & I have possession of were taken at least a week after incident.

 

[Blitzer88]

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter 7s
Vikings announced they have deactivated RB Adrian Peterson.