National Football League

Mother of boy allegedly abused by Peterson breaks silence

Published Sep. 16, 2014 10:38 p.m. ET

foxsports

The mother of the 4-year-old boy allegedly abused by his father, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, broke her public silence on Tuesday, issuing a statement through her attorney pleading with media outlets to stop using photos of her son, as well as statements relating to the criminal investigation.

The statement, issued by attorney Kelly C. Dohm of Melchert, Hubert, Sjodin, P.L.L.P., in full:

Peterson was charged on Friday and surrendered to police early Saturday, charged with causing injury to a child age 14 or younger. He allegedly hit one of his sons with a wooden switch while disciplining the boy on or around May 18. Several outlets, including FOXSports.com, ran photos of the alleged injuries sustained by the boy the day the Peterson news broke.

After the charges came to light, the Vikings deactivated the All-Pro for last weekend's game, a blowout loss to New England. On Monday, the Vikings reinstated Peterson and announced he would play this coming weekend. Shortly afterward, a report surfaced that the mother of another of Peterson's 4-year-old sons filed a report with Child Protective Services over an incident alleged to have occurred "last June."

The report was unclear as to any results of a CPS investigation, though the Vikings said in a statement they were aware "of an allegation from 2013 in which authorities took no action against Adrian."

On Tuesday, Peterson's foundation, All Day Foundation, went on "hiatus," its website currently blank. Also, NFL sponsors voiced concerns for the first time over the recent events concerning Peterson and Ray Rice, released by Baltimore and suspended indefinitely by the NFL last week after video surfaced showing the running back hit his current wife in the face during an argument in February before the two were married. Among the sponsors was brewer Anheuser-Busch, which said:

Later Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton weighed in, saying Peterson's actions as described "are a public embarrassment to the Vikings organization and the State of Minnesota," and that "I believe the team should suspend Mr. Peterson, until the accusations of child abuse have been resolved by the criminal justice system."