Dwight Howard Under Investigation for Child Abuse
Georgia authorities are investigating claims of child abuse made against NBA star Dwight Howard, according to TMZ Sports. The Georgia claims come after Howard was cleared of similar allegations in Florida.
Authorities are looking into accusations that Howard beat his 6-year-old son with a belt buckle, according to TMZ. But authorities have not given any description about the alleged incident, according to a Reuters report.
According to ESPN, the incident happened last summer, and was examined by Florida authorities, who dropped the case, citing a lack of evidence. Georgia officials are investigating the same case, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Howard’s lawyer, David Oskar Markus, released a statement to ESPN, which read in part:
Even though the allegations have already been found to have no merit, when a complaint about the welfare of a child is made to law enforcement, an investigation is commenced. We are confident the Georgia authorities will reach the same conclusion as the Florida authorities. The truth is on our side.
Child abuse among athletes has been in the public eye, most notably with NFL running back Adrian Peterson. The Peterson case gained so much notoriety that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver spoke with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to try and learn lessons from the football league’s experience with handling such cases, according to an October New York Daily News story.
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