Nicki Minaj’s Husband Sentenced To Home Confinement After Failing To Register As Sex Offender

On July 6, 2022, Nicki Minaj’s husband, 44-year-old Kenneth Petty, was sentenced to one year of home confinement for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California, according to Paper.

NBC reported, in addition to home detention, Petty will also receive three years of probation and must pay a fee of $55,000.

According to court documents obtained by The Blast, on September 16, 1994, Petty allegedly forced 16-year-old Jennifer Hough back to his home and raped her at knifepoint. Eventually, she was able to hit him with a water bottle and escape. Petty was convicted of one count of attempted rape and served four years in prison for the crime.

According to Paper, Hough is suing both Petty and Minaj for harassment. Hough claimed the two, through people in Minaj’s camp, tried to intimidate her to recant her story, to get Petty dropped from the sex offender’s list.

According to The Root, charges were brought against Petty in November 2019, when he was pulled over by cops in Beverly Hills, during a traffic stop. They arrested him after learning he was registered as a sex offender in New York but not in California. By law, he is required to register upon moving to a new state, CBS reported.

Petty pleaded guilty last September to one count of failure to register as a sex offender. He is considered a level two offender in the state of New York, which means that he is thought to be at “moderate risk of repeat offense.”

In 2018, Minaj defended her then-boyfriend on Instagram writing, “He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship… but go awf, internet, y’all can’t run my life. y’all can’t even run y’all own life,” according to Page Six.

Petty also pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in 2006 after shooting a man named Lamont Robinson in 2002. US Weekly reported he served seven years of that 10-year sentence.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE.