Report: Police reopen investigation of Dwight Howard for alleged child abuse

Cobb County Police in Georgia have re-opened a summer investigation into Houston Rockets' Dwight Howard for alleged abuse of his child, according to a report from NBC News.

A report broke Monday that an investigation into Howard had been closed without charges being filed, despite a doctor suggesting that evidence was consistent with a diagnosis of child abuse. Cobb County Police told NBC News that new information related to the case - not the existence of the report - are at the root of the investigation being re-opened.

On Oct. 1, the Howard Phillips Center for Children and Families in Florida mailed a report to the police department alleging the abuse, but the police determined there wasn't enough evidence to proceed. The police are unwilling to provide specific details in order to protect the alleged victim, though earlier reports alleged it was Howard's six-year-old son, Braylon, who showed evidence of having been repeatedly whipped with a belt.

Howard has reportedly admitted to physically disciplining his child, but his attorney called the allegations of abuse frivolous on the part of the child's mother, Rocye Reed.

Reed posted a note on Instagram on Sunday saying that the case wasn't closed.