Last year, when rapper Nicki Minaj married Kenneth Petty, the big news was not the nuptials, but the fact that he is on the registry. The world questioned her judgment – as if it is outrageous to marry somebody on the registry. This past week, Petty was arrested for failure to register in California. Again, headlines and more judgment and shaming of Minaj.
Perhaps I’m more sensitive to the issue than most because I’m involved in an organization that advocates for registry reform and on a daily basis, multiple times per day actually, I hear from spouses, parents and children of registrants whose lives are impacted by the registry and whose judgment is continuously put in question as if they too were a suspect in a never-ending investigation.
If you consider what Kenneth Petty was accused of, it’s unquestionably a terrible crime… attempted rape of a 16 year old. But if you dig deeper, you will learn that the crime took place in 1994 – more than 25 years ago! Dig a bit deeper and you’ll learn that he was also only 16 at the time! Dig even deeper and you’ll learn that when his accuser tried to write a letter to the judge to recant her story, she was told that she would go to jail for 90 days if she recanted!
Not to call out Petty, but he happens to have another crime in his history… manslaughter. Completely unrelated to his sex offense and later in life, he was convicted of shooting and killing someone. I’m not judging, but you’d think that killing someone might be more alarming, but that tidbit of information never made the headlines.
While we can’t go back in time, we can certainly live in the present. Today, twenty-five years have passed since the alleged sexual offense and Petty is facing 10 years in prison for failure to register. That’s a lot of time – especially considering it’s more than 3 times as long as his sentence for the underlying offense in 1994. He’s recently married to a successful woman and they had planned to start a family. Plans that could be derailed if Petty is sentenced to prison.
Now I know the research… the risk of serious and persistent sexual crime decreases substantially the longer someone has been sex-offense free in the community. This pattern was particularly evident for high risk sexual offenders, whose yearly recidivism rates declined from approximately 7% during the first calendar year, to less than 1% per year when they have been offense-free for 10 years or more.(1) I also know that the recidivism rates of juveniles is very low, adolescent brains are not as developed as adults and youth who have committed a sex offense are no more likely to commit a future sex offense than other delinquent youth. (2)
So that begs the question; it’s been 25 years, should Petty still be registered?
(1) Hanson, R. K., Harris, J. R., Helmus, L., & Thornton, D. High risk offenders may not be high risk forever. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.2013
(2) https://www.atsa.com/pdfs/Conf2015/T-27.pdf
Of course he should be registered. As a convicted killer, like he is.
What’s that? Killers don’t have to register? Shocking! If registration increases public safety, why don’t they? What sense does that make? Is our government simply not interested in protecting me and my family / children from getting killed? Confused….
There are a number of celebrities on the public registry, like Mike Tyson or Paul Reuben (PeeWee Herman), or people accused of sex offenses. Yet, none of these celebrities have reached out to this movement or offered their support. This movement is largely kept afloat by those who aren’t famous and live paycheck to paycheck.
Someone as famous and rich as Minaj could blow this whole registry nonsense out of the water with their money and influence, much like Kim Kardashian is doing, but that’s just a pipe dream.
I was going to say 1000 people from each states registry should get together and chain themselves to the state capitol building in protest until someone listens.
After thinking that through, that would just give them an excuse to arrest us and really keeping us from ever having a chance. They really do hope we mess up. They hated it when the ruling came down that there needed to be a way off the registry.
That is why they made it so long, 20 or 25 years AFTER you have completed your sentence. And unfortunately we all wait like sheep for that day to come not really remembering, it is not automatic, a judge can still deny you stating the crimes of our past will haunt us forever.
We can throw all the money on Earth at lawyers but unless someone in the courts is willing to take the heat for us, I am bracing for being on this crap for the long haul. I have made my peace and given it to God that He would guide me on whatever path and plan He has for me concerning the time I have left on this Earth.
@Derek Logue
Well the Civil Rights movement began with a Dream too!
The drummer for the Leonard Skinner band was also convicted of a sexual offense and was arrested in Jacksonville Florida for failure to register.
Hell no he shouldn’t still
be registered. It’s just used to control people they can’t keep down.
All I got to say about the news media is listen to the song ” dirty laundry ” by don henley. It says it all
Tim, you nailed it. So true!
Law enforcement is becoming desperate to get more people on the registry and therefore more money from the government.
https://qvoicenews.com/author/phillip/
Sting operations like these are a sign that their budget’s already too big and they have to come up with things to do.
I don’t think it’s an attack on the LGBT community so much as it’s an attack on what adults choose to do in a place that is public yet at the same time “private” since people who go to Romantix know what happens there. I say it’s not an attack on LGBT because many police depts do the same thing with heterosexual strip clubs.
This isn’t an attack on anyone’s sexual orientation, it’s an attack on the natural flow of sex. Period.
I have dated a few strippers in my days by going to stop clubs. It’s certainly not easy since damn near every guy in a strip club wants to get with the stripper but with the right conversations the next thing you know you’re at a dinner having coffee and making plans for your next date. But the way things are now, that would probably be seen as “human trafficking”, and you’d be arrested before you even finished the conversation inside the strip club.
There is a war on sex in this country. I wonder if attorneys for these types of cases ever mention in their court arguments that such actions are no threat to the safety of the public and these issues are not what brought about Megan’s Law.
I agree. This is NOT an attack by law enforcement on the LGBT community. They do not care whom they coerce into committing a “crime” — they can be straight or otherwise. They just want an arrest — justified or not.
Hey ! Where’s my comment? There was nothing wrong with it. I told it like it is. Either you deleted it or it didn’t go through but I’ll say it again-
Nicki’s music is all sexual (my GF listens to her and I’ve asked her many times “How could you even?”)
and I’ve heard the ignorant, sexualized “stories” her rap songs talk about. And she knows damn well that her fan base is made up of YOUNG, IMPRESSIONABLE girls.
So, now that she’s experiencing a taste of what it’s like to be associated with someone who has to register, and that person’s offense happened when he was a minor himself, perhaps her celebrity status could help in the fight against the registry. She can help show this country how unforgiving it is for something that happened more than 25 yrs ago AND when the guy was a teenager AND that the alleged victim tried to recant.
How is my comment not on track with this topic? FAC should get in contact with her agent (it’s not that difficult) just to pass on the information about what your organization as well as NARSOL is doing regarding situations like her fiancé.
No he shouldn’t be on registery anymore the registery is being used just to as duval ada said going to make a example out of the person half or most don’t even have victims no contact at all now days parents leave theirc14 girls date plus some even let the boyfriend in registery was made for certain thing government doesn’t care they are so concern on fighting among them self
No, and UNTIL the registry is completely abolished ( which is what we all hope and pray for ) no one should be on the registry after 10 years of being offense free.
He should not be charged with this stupid infraction nor be required to register. It’s over!
A sideline in this story is that the girl tried to recant her story but was threatened by a judge if she did so. This past year I have been involved with a girl who recanted her accusations, too. She was very strong and determined in her denial of her original allegations in the months that followed, including her time in front of a judge. The events that led up to her original accusation made me suspicious to begin with. The judge would not accept it, and the guy still has 6 more years in prison and will then be deported. Seven percent of all sexual allegations are false, but some judges do not want to hear it.
Per Michael Seto, in 2013-14 more than 10% of those convicted of internet $ex offences are innocent of their charges. Imagine that!!
This is what is ridiculous about the whole thing.
Want to know if a felon of other crimes (DUI’s, murder, grand theft, drug distributor, manslaughter, etc) with higher recidivism rates live near you? Nope! Just that damn Sex Offender who hasn’t committed another offense in 25 years with a <1% recidivism rate.
BUT, if he gets off just because he is a celeb, then I will call BS. I feel for him but he is no better or worse than the rest of us. Regardless if you are a homeless person or a politician, the law should be enacted the same way. But we know that is not always the case.
Also, celebs tend to have way more money for a defense than we may have had. I know if I had, had the funds to continue on to trial, I would at the very least gotten a shorter sentence and have been done before the registry came out.
On a side note, yes, like you stated, every time someone on the registry farts it has to make news. And also agree that it is ironic the murder was never mentioned but a sex crime a lifetime ago was.
I actually cannot stand reporters even worse than prosecutors. With the courts, when your case is over, they don’t give you a 2nd thought and move onto the next case, but with the news, they thrive on the “STORY” regardless whose lives they destroy. The stories impact more than just the person registered. Their loved ones, families and even neighbors can be affected when news vans show up in their neighborhood.
Not to sound like a brain surgeon compared to the American justice system but if they are not registering people for murder I would think every crime falls short of that. the entire thing is Neo Elizabethan era draconian drama and sexual paranoia…there should never be a registry in the 1st place. contrary to the lies the supreme court toilet tells itself so it can sleep at night the registry is against the constitution and there for illegal..but the supremecourt toilet also accepted the crow laws as legal as well..
Since he is on the public register, maybe FAC, NARSOL and other such organizations can get his addresses (published on the registry) and mail letters alerting them about all the litigation we support to reform these draconian laws. Who knows, they may be interested in supporting our cause.
BOB
you have something there!
Derrick mention a few celebs who as well registered and dont care maybe it is time FAC and other entities send letters to these celebs and explain our causes and the fact they as well cant travel.etc.etc etc.
it may lite a fire under some of them to stop and think for a while on all that is going on in there lives as well as others, How say thee FAC? is is a possibility?
We are short on volunteers. If we add more tasks things fall off our plates.
Why could you not write them? If there were only a way to get their (current) addresses….
My answer to that question is that there should be no Registry at all let alone Kenneth staying on one.
The Registry is a social experiment gone wrong but couldn’t openly admit it because it is a cottage industry that makes money for many people and keeps politicians elected. The public doesn’t benefit from it in any way because new sexual assaults are overwhelmingly committed by people not on the Registry. The public has shown that they are not to be trusted with Registrants’ information because of vigilantism or other criminal behaviors committed upon Registrants.
All around a public Registry that constantly expands new offenses to increase the Registrant population along with harsher measures is bad all around.
Iv been registered for half my life for a crime committed when I was 16. Very similar to his same case. So I’m going to say No. What his rich wife may wanna do is out some money into Narsol, FAC and any other organization fighting for our rights to be free from this unnecessary burden. The fact that a technical violation carries more time than the actual crime just makes me wanna say a lot of bad words..
“…it’s been 25 years, should Petty still be registered?”
Of course not.
NOBODY should be registered!!
He should not be registered. The worst of the worst should be registered, but only for law enforcement eyes, and only for a specific time.
You mean like by a system called probation or parole? Other than that, there should be no Registries. We’ve seen that these criminal regimes are immoral and can’t have a Registry toy.
Will, the states seal up that loophole with lifetime parole or probation for any sex offense. Try being on lifetime parole where you’re not allowed to even kiss a lady or allow her to touch you without involving the parole office and getting their “consent”. And if you don’t and you fail a poly, then back to the house you go. That is downright torture and has to stop. It is the EXACT definition of cruel and unusual punishment. But hey, we’re not fighting that, that’s all fine… Carry on