Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty to Forcible Touching | lovebscott.com

Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty to Forcible Touching

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty Wednesday to forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018.

via: Page Six

The 54-year-old “Jerry Maguire” actor — who faced six counts of sexual abuse and forcible touching — copped to a misdemeanor forcible touching charge in Manhattan Criminal Court for non-consensually kissing a woman at a nightclub in 2018, according to prosecutors.

The plea deal, which allows the star to keep working, requires him to continue treatment for alcohol abuse, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.

If he complies with the terms of the deal, the charge will be reduced to a non-criminal violation in six months.

“We fully credit and believe all of the survivors in this case and thank all of the women and other witnesses who cooperated with our office during the pendency of our investigation,” ADA Coleen Balbert said during the actor’s court appearance.

Gooding had faced up to a year behind bars for groping three women at Manhattan hotspots in 2018 and 2019.

He was first arrested in June 2019 for allegedly squeezing a 30-year-old woman’s breast at the Moxy Hotel in Times Square.

The actor was also charged with pinching the buttocks of TAO Downtown server Natasha Ashworth in October 2018 and subjecting a woman to “sexual contact without consent” at LAVO Nightclub on the Upper East Side.

Former New York City District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. had initially refused to give the Oscar-winning actor a deal that didn’t involve jail time. But he negotiated a more lenient deal under District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Gooding had initially pleaded not guilty to the three separate alleged incidents, and his trial was repeatedly pushed back due to COVID-19.

The plea agreement also allows the three women to make victim impact statements in court.

Goodwing Jr’s lawyer Frank Rothman didn’t immediately return a request for comment. The actor is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 13.

Gooding Jr.’s bail bondsman in the case was Ira Judelson, known as the “bondsman to the stars,” who has worked with celebrity clients including DMX, Ja Rule and Harvey Weinstein.

Along with the criminal case, Gooding is accused in a lawsuit of raping a woman in New York City in 2013. After a judge issued a default judgment in July because Gooding hadn’t responded to the lawsuit, Gooding retained a lawyer and is fighting the allegations.

Share This Post