The 29-year-old is currently out on bail, after shocking images were released by the Houston police of injuries his 4-year-old son allegedly sustained as a result of Peterson ‘spanking the youngster with a tree branch’.
And Peterson, who was charged with 'causing injury to a child aged 14 or younger' following the incident in May, has now been dogged with fresh allegations of child abuse.
Pictures have now surfaced of Peterson’s other son- also 4, who has a different mother, with a head injury allegedly sustained whilst in his father’s care.
The Vikings player denied intentionally causing the injury, claiming he had ‘gestured to strike the boy’, when the youngster flinched and hit his head on a car seat.
After posting a stream of religious Christian messages on Twitter, Peterson spoke out about the charges on Twitter last night.
Explaining that despite his attorney advising him not to discuss the case, he wanted to apologise ‘for the hurt he had caused to his child’, he wrote:
“I have to live with the fact that when I disciplined my son the way I was disciplined as a child, I caused an injury that I never intended or thought that would happen.”
Denying that he was a child abuser, Peterson conceded that he had met with a psychologist and ‘understands that there are alternative methods of disciplining a child that are more appropriate.’
NFL have come under fire after suspending Peterson for just one game over the incident, which comes soon after their criticism over the handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse case.
Has how your parents raised you affected your disciplining approach with your children? Let us know in the comments box below.