There's some anxiety in a Hidden Hills neighborhood over Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty living there, TMZ reports.
Some Hidden Hills residents have launched a petition to get Minaj and Petty from moving into their neighborhood, and most of the concerns are regarding Petty. Beverly Barden launched the petition online last year and highlighted that Petty is a registered sex offender because he was convicted of first-degree rape in 1995 in New York, for which he served four years in prison.
Petty recently filed legal documents to change his address via the Megan's Law website, which requires sex offenders and their addresses to be publicly listed online. The couple, who married in 2019, purchased a mansion in the Hidden Hills in December for an estimated $19.5 million. Petty was sentenced to one year of in-home confinement and three years of probation last year for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California.
Barden's petition has encouraged the neighborhood to warn others about Petty moving in, and the petition calls for signees to "show that you are against sex offenders in our Hidden Hills neighborhood!" The petition suggested that not only would he pose safety concerns, but he could also hurt the property value of the homes. So far the petition has attracted over 800 signatures.
“I take full responsibility for whatever happens today,” said Petty when he was sentenced for failing to register as a sex offender upon moving to Los Angeles with his wife in 2019. “I’m ashamed, embarrassed, and disrespected my wife’s brand. There are no excuses, I broke the law. I thank you for giving me the chance to speak, to apologize.”
Petty is required to register as a level 2 sex offender when he moves in-state. He was convicted for the alleged 1994 rape of a 16-year-old, who opened up about the assault in an interview in 2021. That same year, she filed a lawsuit against Petty and Minaj for alleged harassment and witness intimidation, but she later dropped the suit in 2022.
In court documents, Petty maintained his innocence. He admitted to having sex with his accuser, Jennifer Hough, in 1994, but insisted their encounter was consensual. “I never raped the Plaintiff and I deny her accusations of rape contained in the Amended Complaint,” he said, per the court filing. “I also deny all of Plaintiff’s allegations in the Amended Complaint that I committed any improper conduct, sexual abuse and/or sexual assault. The sexual encounter between Plaintiff and I, which occurred 27 years ago, was consensual and Plaintiff was a willing participant.”
