Cuba Gooding Jr Cuts Plea Deal in Sex Assault Case

Cuba Gooding Jr has pleaded guilty to forcibly kissing a woman at a New York City nightclub in 2018.

On Wednesday, 13 April, the 54-year-old “Jerry Maguire” actor appeared at a hearing held in Manhattan Criminal Court, where he pleaded guilty to kissing a waitress without her consent at the LAVO Nightclub.

“Yes, your honour, I kissed the waitress on her lips,” Gooding told Justice Curtis Farber. “I apologise for ever making anybody feel inappropriately touched.”

Gooding also stands accused of sexually assaulting two other New York women in 2018 and 2019; he was charged for the separate incidents in June 2019, but his trial date was pushed back multiple times due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

By cutting a plea deal that covers only one of the three charges, the probability of the actor facing jail-time is zero.

Plus, if he continues undergoing alcohol and behaviour modification treatment for six months, he can withdraw his misdemeanour plea, and then plead guilty to a lesser violation of harassment.

Gooding is scheduled to reappear in court on 13 October.

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