Nicki Minaj, husband accused of harassing sexual assault victim

Rapper Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth "Zoo" Petty, are being sued for harassment by Jennifer Hough, a woman who accused Petty of raping her in 1994 when she was 16.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. Eastern District Court on Friday, Hough accused the entertainer and Petty, 43, of attempting to force her to recant her rape accusation. Seeking unspecified damages, the lawsuit also accused the couple of intentional infliction of emotional distress and alleges sexual assault and battery (referring to the 1994 accusation).

The suit contends that the couple also attempted to bribe her with $500,000 to recant her statement. On another occasion, Hough alleges that she was offered $20,000 to sign a prepared document retracting her statements about Perry.

A representative for Minaj, 38, did not immediately respond to Newsday's request for comment.

Hough's attorney, Tyrone A. Blackburn, told NBC News on Saturday that his client decided to come forward because she has spent the past several years trying to "move on with her life and away from the horrors of 1994."

"As a direct result of the actions of Defendant Minaj and Defendant Petty, Plaintiff has been traumatized her entire life," the suit contends. "Plaintiff has never felt safe since being raped by Defendant."

New York State sex-offender records show that in April 1995, while still a minor teen, Petty was convicted of the attempted rape of a 16-year-old girl the previous September. After serving time, he remains a Level 2 registered sex offender in New York State.

It was not immediately clear whether Hough is the same female as in the 1995 case.

Additionally, court documents obtained by TheBlast.com show that he pleaded guilty in Queens in March 2006 to a manslaughter charge for fatally shooting a man named Lamont Robinson on April 27, 2002. He served seven years in prison and was released in May 2013.

With Frank Lovece and Newsday Staff