The man charged in the death of the 2-year-old son of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson has been re-arrested for violating the terms of his bond, reports say.
Joseph Patterson was re-arrested by police in Jackson County, South Dakota, and charged with harassing the mother of the boy he stands accused of killing in 2013. Contact with the boy’s mother violated the terms of his bond and now could cost him and his own family $2 million for the violation.
The accused murderer turned himself in to police after violating the protection order taken out against him that was meant to keep him away from the boy’s mother. Patterson is accused of “contacting [the boy’s mother] more than a dozen times in less than an hour this past weekend.”
Patterson was released on the $2 million bond after being charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and aggravated assault in the death of 2-year-old Tyrese Ruffin.
In his own defense, Patterson claims that the boy’s death was accidental and he choked on a morsel of food. But prosecutors have charged him with beating the child to death.
Patterson also faces separate charges of aggravated assault and kidnapping charges in an alleged attack on the boy’s mother in June.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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