Bobby Brown obviously wasn't channeling the future when he told reporters earlier this week, "This is the last time you'll see me coming out of [jail] or going in."

The 35-year-old R&B singer headed back to jail Wednesday (March 24) -- this time in Massachusetts' Norfolk County -- pending payment of $63,000 in back child support to ex-girlfriend Kim Ward.

Brown was released from Georgia's DeKalb County Jail, where he was serving another sentence, to face contempt-of-court charges levied by Ward (see [article id="1485915"]"Bobby Brown Pulled From Georgia Jail For Child-Support Hearing"[/article]). Ward is the mother of two children -- LaPrincia, 14, and Bobby Jr., 12, according to the Boston Herald -- Bobby fathered before marrying Whitney Houston.

Brown had been under a court order to pay $5,500 a month to Ward and had complied since the case was adjudicated in the early '90s, according to Norfolk County Register of Probate Patrick McDermott, until last May, when the payments stopped. Brown was in the midst of serving a 60-day sentence in DeKalb County for violating his drunken-driving probation (see [article id="1485409"]"Bobby Brown Sentenced To 60 Days For Probation Violation"[/article]) when he was released to attend Wednesday's mandatory child-support hearing.

"It was an emergency based upon the fact that the family of Mr. Brown's ex-girlfriend was without any income," McDermott said, "and his basically not having paid since last May has made their financial situation grave, to the tune that they may lose their home."

Brown was originally scheduled to go free Thursday, after completing about half his jail time, for good behavior. This was the second time he'd been summoned to appear in Norfolk County on the child-support matter, and his previous failure to do so led Judge Paula Carey to sentence him to jail time, lest he disappear again.

Carey also chastised Brown on his tardiness. Initially scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m., Brown did not arrive until 12:45 p.m. His hearing was pushed to 2 p.m., an unusual same-day rescheduling that was another result of the court's fears that Brown could not be trusted to make a third court date.

Meanwhile, Houston, who has been famously supportive of her husband -- even after he was charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly hitting her in December (see [article id="1481058"]"Bobby Brown Turns Himself In, Appears In Court With Whitney At His Side"[/article]) -- did not show up to stand by her man. The 40-year-old diva checked herself into a drug-rehab facility on March 15 (see [article id="1485769"]"Whitney Houston Enters Drug Rehab Facility"[/article]).

Brown will continue his courtroom tour on May 5, when a Fulton County, Georgia, judge is scheduled to rule on the battery charge.