Cuba Gooding Jr. has reached a plea deal to avoid jail time and has plead guilty to one count of forcible touching. (Photo by Thaddaeus McAdams/Getty Images for Ocean Drive)
On Wednesday, Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of forcible touching.
A woman at a New York City nightclub accused the star of touching her without consent back in 2018. Several women have since spoken against the actor, accusing him of inappropriately touching them. However, Wednesday’s guilty plea was just for one of the allegations.
According to the Associated Press, Cuba’s guilty plea comes almost three years after his initial arrest. The case was delayed as his legal team worked to get the charges dismissed or reduced. Between 2018 and 2019, three more women accused him of violating them while they were at locations in Manhattan.
Cuba admitted to the judge that he “kissed the waitress on her lips” without her permission while at LAVO nightclub in New York.
He reached a plea deal, which will keep him from serving time behind bars. If he continues to follow through with his counseling for the next six months, he will be able to withdraw the misdemeanor plea and plead guilty to a lesser violation of harassment.
As previously reported, Cuba was accused of an incident in June 2019 at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar in the Moxy NYC Times Square hotel. In that incident, a woman accused Cuba of placing his hand on her breast and squeezing without her consent. That October, the trial for that incident was delayed as he was hit with an additional charge.
The two other incidents, which took place in 2018, occurred at TAO Downtown and LAVO nightclub.
The judge ruled that if the case did go to trial, prosecutors had the right to call in two additional women to testify against Cuba. The women would have been among the 19 women who accused Cuba, which prosecutors sought to have as witnesses.
Cuba has maintained his innocence in the past, as he previously pleaded not guilty to six misdemeanor counts.
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
