- Nicki Minaj's husband Kenneth Petty has been sentenced for failing to register as a sex offender.
- He will face 3 years of probation and a year of home detention sentence, according to CBS News.
- Petty served four years in jail in 1995 after pleading guilty to the attempted rape of a 16-year-old.
Nicki Minaj's husband Kenneth Petty was sentenced to three years probation and a year of home detention at a sentencing hearing on Wednesday due to his failure to register as a sex offender in California, according to CBS News.
In June, federal prosecutors initially wanted to sentence Petty to over a year in jail for failing to register as a sex offender, according to court documents. Along with the probation and home detention he now faces, Petty will also have to pay a $55,000 fine.
"Having previously been convicted of attempted rape, defendant knowingly failed to register as a sex offender upon moving to California," prosecutors said in a June filing.
Petty, now 44, served four years in jail in 1995 after pleading guilty to the attempted rape of Jennifer Hough, who was then 16 years old.
In August, Hough also sued Minaj and Petty in New York for intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual assault, claiming the couple attempted to pay her $500,000 to recant the allegations and intimidated her on various occasions. She also accused the couple of trying to coerce her to help them get Petty off the registry.
That case has now moved to California where the couple lives. Minaj was also dropped as a defendant in January. Prosecutors pursued action against Petty, saying that he failed to register as a sex offender when he moved to California in 2019 while dating Minaj.
"The timing of defendant's lapse in registration is concerning, given that it occurred when defendant began dating his wife, quit his job, moved to Los Angeles, and adopted an affluent lifestyle," prosecutors wrote in the filing.
Petty's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors added that prior to his relationship and move, Petty had been compliant with the registration processes. Petty and Minaj married in 2019 and had a child the following year.
"Defendant has been completing sex offender registration documents for nearly 20 years," prosecutors wrote in the filing. "Over the course of two decades, he was repeatedly warned that if he moved to another state, it was his responsibility to follow any local, city, state, federal, or international laws regarding registration."
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visit its website to receive confidential support.