Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty to abusing a woman in 2018 at a New York nightclub.
Cuba Gooding, known for having participated in “Jerry Maguire”, is accused of abusing three women in different Manhattan nightclubs in 2018 and 2019, but this Wednesday he only pleaded guilty to one of the accusations.
The guilty plea comes nearly three years after the Oscar-winning actor was arrested in the case, which suffered several delays as his attorneys sought to have the charges reduced or dismissed.
Cuba Gooding Jr. told the judge that he “kissed the waitress on the lips” without her consent at the LAVO club in New York.
What is Cuba Gooding Jr.’s punishment after pleading guilty?
Cuba Gooding ‘s plea agreement states that he will not be jailed, but will have to undergo therapy for six months in order to withdraw his misdemeanor plea and plead guilty to misdemeanor stalking.
Gooding was arrested in June 2019 after a 29-year-old woman told police the actor touched her breasts without her consent at the Magic Hour Rooftop bar near Times Square.
A few months later , Cuba Gooding was charged in two additional cases as more women decided to report him for abuse . The new charges accused him of touching a waitress’s butt and making a sexual comment at TAO Downtown and forcibly and inappropriately touching a woman at LAVO nightclub, both in 2018.
Cuba Gooding previously pleaded not guilty to six misdemeanor charges and denied all allegations of misconduct. His lawyers have argued that prosecutors, fueled by the fervor of the #MeToo movement, were trying to turn “common gestures” or mix-ups into crimes.
The judge had ruled that if Gooding’s case went to trial, prosecutors would have had to call two additional women to testify about their abuse allegations against Gooding. Those women, whose complaints did not lead to criminal charges, were among 19 other accusers prosecutors sought to call as witnesses.
Gooding is also accused of raping a woman in New York in 2013. A judge issued a default judgment in July because the actor had failed to respond to the lawsuit. Gooding has a lawyer that he is fighting those accusations.