Chris Brown facing criminal charges for owning exotic pet monkey

Singer-songwriter Chris Brown has had his share of legal troubles, including assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009 and an arrest on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

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According to TMZ, Brown is now facing criminal charges for owning an exotic monkey without a permit. He first shared a video of his 3-year-old daughter cuddling the animal on Instagram in 2017, prompting an investigation for the girl's safety and primate's welfare by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Brown agreed to voluntarily surrender the pet and is due in court on Wednesday, Feb. 6.

The Los Angeles City Attorney has charged the singer with two misdemeanor counts of having a capuchin monkey, a restricted species, without a permit, TMZ reported Thursday.

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Under California state law, it’s illegal to import, transport or possess the animals without an official permit from the Fish and Wildlife Department. Owning the monkey, which Brown named Fiji, can carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail.

Capuchin monkeys, also called sapajou, are native to Central and South America and are considered "among the most intelligent of the New World monkeys," according to Brittanica.

The primates can be used to help the physically disabled with chores, but wildlife officials adamantly oppose capuchins as pets.

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As babies, the monkeys typically have human-like features, which makes them particularly attractive to humans. But they can grow up to become quite destructive.

"Keeping monkeys as pets threatens public health and safety as well as animal welfare. They can attack, they can spread disease and the average pet owner cannot meet their needs in captivity," Beth Preiss of the Humane Society of the United States told The Associated Press in 2010.