ATTLEBORO - Acting on a tip, a private constable arrested singer Bobby Brown Sunday night as he showed up at Attleboro High School for his daughter's cheerleading competition.
Appearing Monday in Norfolk County Probate and Family Court in Canton, Brown was ordered to remain in a Norfolk County jail in Dedham until he paid $19,000 in late child support and court fees.
"We're diligently working on getting those funds available from outside sources," Phaedra Parks, an attorney in Atlanta where Brown lives, said Monday. Parks doubted Brown would get out of jail before this morning.
Brown currently owes child support payments from January, plus late penalties, attorney fees and constable fees, Parks said.
Parks said the rhythm and blues singer has been struggling to meet monthly payments to Kim Ward, of Stoughton, the mother of his two teenage children.
"Although this agreement was put in place when he was Bobby Brown the star, this agreement is being enforced when he is not always able to find work," Parks said. "He hasn't made an album in quite some years."
The flamboyant Brown, whose wife, singer Whitney Houston, recently filed for divorce, was arrested Sunday night on a warrant for failing to appear at a child support hearing in October.
Brown was arrested by a constable working for All State Constables of Weymouth. Attleboro police were not involved in the arrest and it did not disrupt the cheerleading meet.
Adam Loomis of All State Constables said Brown was cooperative outside the high school, and borrowed Loomis' cell phone to arrange to get out of jail.
In October, Brown paid $11,000 in delinquent child support after being threatened with arrest if he stepped back into Massachusetts. He owed more than two months' worth of payments to Ward. It wasn't immediately known if Brown still owes child support.
Brown, a Boston native best known for a solo hit "Don't Be Cruel," has a history of legal troubles. In June 2004, he was sentenced to 90 days in prison for missing three months of payments. That sentence was immediately suspended after Brown paid about $15,000.
The Attleboro arrest was the second time in a year that Brown was arrested while going to his daughter's cheerleading meets.
Last March, Brown was nabbed for minor motor vehicle violations dating back 14 years when he arrived to watch his daughter at a cheering competition at Bartlett High School. Brown was cooperative and was allowed to drive to the police station after the competition, police said.
He and pop diva Houston are divorcing after a 14-year marriage.
Did I ever tell you he was on a crusie I took with my family (Disney Cruise Line) a few years back, whith Whitney and daughter. Guess where he hung out when we were on the Private Island...thats right the bar!
