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If ever there were a time for James Fortune to get on his knees and pray, it would be now. The Grammy-nominated Gospel artist was arrested this past weekend for assaulting a family member and, unfortunately, this isn’t the singer-songwriter’s first charge of this nature.

Though the specific family member assaulted this time around has yet to be revealed, My Fox Houston has confirmed that Fortune was charged with aggravated assault before being released on a $20,000 bond. Always A List managed to get a statement from Fortune Saturday evening following the incident in which he remarked:

“I am truly sorry for the negative attention this situation has brought my wife, family, friends and business partners. Because it is a pending legal matter, I cannot comment on what has been reported. However, I understand the seriousness of this matter and ask that you respect the privacy of my family as we address this together. I would also like to thank my fans for their outpouring of love and support.”

It will be interesting to see how many of Fortune’s fans stand by his side this time around. Just two years ago Fortune was sued for $5 million in a civil lawsuit by the biological father of his steps-son over claims of child abuse. The suit stemmed from an incident that occurred in 2001 –the same year Fortune married his wife Cheryl — when he allegedly put his then-4-year-old step-son in scalding hot water as punishment for coloring on a table. According to the Examiner, the boy was left with second- and third-degree burns over 50% of his body and had to undergo skin graft operations. The purpose of the lawsuit was to get money to pay for plastic surgery to correct the disfigurement the young child was left with as a result of the incident. However at the time, Fortune, who pled guilty to felony injury to a child and received six years deferred adjudication, said the lawsuit only came about as a result of his “increased profile and financial viability” and contested the matter in civil court. According to Always A List, “The stepson, now 17, has had ‘continuous uninterrupted open visitations’ since 2001 and was actually living with Fortune during his summer break when the civil suit was made public.”

The song “Live Through It” on Fortune’s latest album “Identity” discussed the Gospel singer’s struggle to deal with the negative attention he received as a result of the suit two years ago. Let’s see how he lives through this latest charge.

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