(AllHipHop News) NBA star Dwight Howard is facing a criminal investigation into allegations the Houston Rockets center abused his six-year-old son. TMZ reports that Georgia’s Cobb County Police Department has opened a case in the matter after Howard was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Florida.
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A law enforcement source told the website that several interviews have taken place and Cobb County investigators received information from the DCF. Howard supposedly has admitted he hit his son with a belt, but DCF ruled there was not enough evidence of child abuse. The belt whipping apparently took place in the state of Georgia, not Florida.
Howard’s legal team suggests the entire ordeal is being orchestrated by the mother of his child Royce Reed. His attorney says the allegations are “baseless” and “have no merit.”
Reed and Howard have been going through a very public custody battle over their son. Howard also won a defamation lawsuit over the former Basketball Wives star. Reed lost a judgement that concluded she violated a court order barring her from speaking about Howard in the media. She addressed the current investigation on Instagram earlier this week.
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The Howard abuse allegations come on the heels of NFL running back Adrian Peterson pleading no contest in his highly publicized child abuse case.
[ALSO READ: Adrian Peterson Pleads No Contest & Avoids Jail]