Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Guilty to Forcible Touching of Woman at NYC Nightclub

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Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded guilty to forcibly touching a woman at a New York City nightclub in 2018, according to the Associated Press. 

Gooding was accused of unwanted sexual touching by three women, all of whom claimed he violated them in Manhattan restaurants and nightclubs in either 2018 or 2019.

More than 20 women have also accused the actor of groping or kissing them in incidences that date back more than 20 years.

In June 2019, Gooding was arrested after a 29-year-old woman claimed he squeezed her breast at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square without her consent.

He was then charged with two more cases, as a woman claimed he pinched her butt and made sexually suggestive comments to her while she was a server at New York City’s TAO Downtown in 2018.

Another woman accused him of forcibly touching her at LAVO New York nightclub — which he pleaded guilty to on Wednesday.

Gooding had previously pleaded not guilty to six misdemeanor counts, denying all accusations of misconduct.

The judge ultimately ruled that if Gooding’s case went to trial, prosecutors could have called two more women to testify, allowing them to argue that the actor exhibited a pattern of misbehavior.

According to the New York Times’ Benjamin Weiser and Colin Moynihan, “Mr. Gooding appeared before the judge, Curtis Farber of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, to enter his plea and is likely to speak briefly in court to explain why he is pleading guilty. The judge would then have to accept the plea.”

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