District attorney: Adrian Peterson 'exceeded' standards

Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson used physical discipline on his son that was considered "not reasonable" by Texas community standards, a Texas prosecutor said Saturday.

Based on the evidence from the incident in May, a grand jury in Montgomery County, Texas, indicted Peterson this week on a charge of injury to a child. Peterson turned himself in early Saturday morning and posted a $15,000 bond.

"Obviously, parents are entitled to discipline their children as they see fit, except for when that discipline exceeds what the community would say is reasonable," said Phil Grant, first assistant district attorney in Montgomery County, Texas. "And so a grand jury having indicted this case, looked at the injuries that were inflicted upon this child and determined that that discipline was not reasonable and did not reflect the community standards of what was reasonable discipline."

Grant declined to provide details on the injuries because it's a pending investigation.

"The Montgomery County District Attorney's office will take this charge extremely seriously, and we look forward to presenting this case to a jury at the appropriate time," Grant said at a news conference Saturday in Conroe, Texas.

Grant added that his office is "well-known for the effective and aggressive prosecution of all those in our county that might injure our children."

The indictment says that Peterson "recklessly or by criminal negligence" caused bodily injury to the boy by striking him with a branch.

Peterson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, released a statement Friday that said the charge involved the use of a "switch" to spank Peterson's son.

"He used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas," Hardin said in the statement. "Adrian has never hidden from what happened. He has cooperated fully with authorities and voluntarily testified before the grand jury for several hours."

The key issue in the case likely will be whether the discipline was reasonable.

Hardin said Peterson is "a loving father who used his judgment as a parent to discipline his son."

He added that Peterson "never intended to harm his son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury."

If convicted, Peterson faces up to two years in state jail, though probation is considered for those with no criminal record, Grant said.

Peterson will not play in Sunday's game against New England.

Grant said news reports that have provided details of the boy's injuries came from an unlawful leak in the case.

"It appears there's been a significant leak of very sensitive information regarding this case," Grant said. He said his office is working with other law-enforcement agencies to find out the source of that leak.

He also said the evidence was presented to the grand jury over several weeks and was presented to only one grand jury. "It was not shopped around to multiple grand juries," Grant said.

Peterson, 29, lost another son last year when the 2-year-old boy died of head injuries sustained from a beating by the mother's boyfriend in South Dakota, authorities said.