Chris Brown begins 180 hours of community service

In February of this year, Chris Brown made headlines after assaulting his then-girlfriend, singer Rihanna. Today, he had his first day of community service.

Sentenced to 180 days of service, five years of probation, and a year of domestic violence counseling, Brown was also told to stay away from Rihanna for five years. Brown started his sentence today, weeding and cleaning up police horse stables in Virginia. His community service schedule will be flexible and his labor will include a variety of tasks.

Brown has to pay for security guards during his service hours, and refused to talk to anyone in the media. He did, however, post pictures of himself on his Web site, wearing an orange safety vest and picking up trash. Hopefully the singer's sentence will help him get beyond his anger issues and he will be rehabilitated enough to have healthy relationships in the future.