 Court order ... Bobby Brown / AP |
A MASSACHUSETTS judge sentenced R&B singer Bobby Brown to 30 days in jail today unless he pays $20,000 ($25,200) in child support for two of his children - his second arrest in the state in less than a year.
Brown, who is in the process of a divorce with singer-actress Whitney Houston, appeared in handcuffs at Norfolk Probate and Family Court, a day after he was arrested while attending his daughter`s cheerleading competition.
Last October, an arrest warrant was issued for the 38-year-old Grammy winner after he failed to show up at a hearing on overdue child support payments to Kim Ward, the mother of two of his children.
In 2004 and 2005, Brown was also sentenced to jail in Massachusetts for failing to pay child support. In both cases he paid up. He made headlines last March when police arrested him for an outstanding motor vehicle violation dating to 1992.
"Mr. Brown has had a pattern of non-compliance," Ward`s lawyer, Linda Medonis, told the court in Canton, south of Boston. She said Brown had failed to make child support payments from November to February.
Brown`s lawyer said the money would be wired from California, WBZ Television reported.
Last September, after a series of domestic disputes and drug-related problems, Houston filed for a divorce from Brown after 14 years of marriage.
Brown, a Boston native, reached fame with the group New Edition and for his 1988 solo album Don`t be Cruel.
He attempted a comeback as the star of his own television show, Being Bobby Brown, but the show was canceled in January after Houston stopped appearing. 
THEY might be competing with the likes of Lagerfeld and Valentino, but new designers are making an imprint at this year`s ready-to-wear in Paris
IT was a golden day for a lucky few. Here are all the winners from the 79th Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles
THE Biggest Loser`s latest evictee, Adelaide`s Michael Hinde, has put his search for love on hold until the show`s final episode and weigh-in
NINE CEO Eddie McGuire is set to slash jobs at Channel 9 Perth as he begins plotting the road to recovery for the network`s weakest link
