Making an effort. Nicki Minaj‘s husband, Kenneth Petty, wants to make sure he’s present for the birth of his first child.
The 42-year-old New York native — who is a registered sex offender — has requested that a judge change his pretrial conditions so he can attend the birth of their baby if it occurs outside his curfew hours, according to court documents obtained by TMZ.
He also requested to be able to travel with Minaj, 37, on business trips as her manager. Petty states in the court documents that the U.S. Attorney’s Office and pretrial services office aren’t against his request.
His legal troubles stem from a previous conviction in New York in 1995, when he was charged with the first-degree attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl. Petty — who was also 16 at the time — served four years behind bars for the crime. He was later released and ordered to register as a sex offender in the state of New York.
Petty recently registered as a sex offender in California after he was arrested in March for allegedly failing to do so when he moved there in July 2019.
The “Yikes” rapper’s husband served a second prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2006 to a first-degree manslaughter charge for his involvement in a 2002 shooting. Petty was ordered to serve 10 years behind bars, but he concluded his sentence in 2013.
Minaj announced that she and Petty — whom she married in 2019 — are expecting their first child together via Instagram on July 20.
“#Preggers. Love. Marriage. Baby carriage. Overflowing with excitement & gratitude. Thank you all for the well wishes,” the “Megatron” rapper captioned a photo of her baby bump.
A source told Us Weekly at the time that the Grammy nominee “is over the moon” to be having a baby.
“She has wanted to become a mother for a long, long time, and now her dream is finally coming true! She feels so blessed to be pregnant and can’t wait to meet her mini-me,” the insider said.
Months earlier, Minaj praised her relationship with Petty and credited him for making a positive change in her life.
“Whenever I’m down, I can have one conversation with my husband and it will get me back where I need to be mentally,” she said on Queen Radio in February. “He’s been a really great force in my life. I feel a level of comfort with him that I hadn’t felt before to just be myself and to share who I am.”
