Bobby Brown Says Being Molested By A Priest Was The Reason He 'Abused' Himself

Bobby Brown is opening up about a traumatic moment for the first time in 40 years.

In his new A&E documentary "Biography: Bobby Brown," which premieres May 30, the 53-year-old singer-songwriter revealed that his first great loss was that of his innocence when he was a child growing up in a rough section of Boston.

He recalled witnessing his mother being beaten and arrested by police after trying to intervene in the arrest of some neighbors.

Following his mother's arrest, Brown said he was sent by social services to a "religious place" that had temporary custody of him.

"But it wasn't a very nice place to be for a child," he said in the documentary. "One of the priests tried to molest me. He tried to touch my private parts ... At that time, I was a young boy. I didn't know what sexual boundaries were. I just knew I didn't like being touched. Some things are hard to forget."

"That really, really bothered me as a child, and as a grown adult," Brown said during an interview with People of being touched inappropriately before fighting back and fleeing the religious facility.

The R&B singer added that he believes the incident was part of the reason why he became addicted to drugs and alcohol and "abused" himself.

Brown admitted that he had not planned to ever bring up the painful memory, explaining: "I had tucked it down so deep into my soul that I didn't think that I would talk about it again."

However, after sharing his story, the singer said talking about it has "helped me get through a lot of other things that had been bothering me, especially that."

Looking back, he said he could now see "where things went wrong for me."

Brown shared that as a child, he coped by embracing music and rebelling against all forms of authority. He has now been free of narcotics for 20 years.

In the documentary, Brown also opened up about the pain of losing two children — Bobbi Kristina, his daughter with ex-wife Whitney Houston, and Bobby Jr., his son with ex-partner Kim Ward — to drugs. According to him, he often dreams about them.

"I always see them at beaches or in fields. They're running away, but they're laughing. And they're always together. I didn't have many dreams about Bobbi Kris before Bobby Jr. died. But then all of a sudden — floods of dreams," he said.

"Biography: Bobby Brown," the two-night event, airs on A&E on May 30 and 31 at 8 p.m. EDT/PT.