Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one count of forcible touching after three different women accused the Oscar-winning actor of groping them at Manhattan venues in 2018 and 2019, Associated Press reports.
The guilty plea came after he was arrested after turning himself in June 2019. The protracted criminal case was held up for nearly three years while the star’s lawyers worked to get charges reduced or dismissed. The trial was also postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Gooding Jr.’s 2019 arrest stemmed from initial charges of misdemeanor forcible touching and sexual abuse in the third degree after a woman accused him of grabbing her breast at New York City bar Magic Hour Rooftop Lounge.
He was also charged in two additional cases shortly afterward. Two different women accused him of abuse a few months later. One alleged Gooding pinched a server’s buttocks after making a sexually suggestive remark to her while at TAO Downtown. Another alleged she was forcibly touched at LAVO New York nightclub. Both incidences were alleged to have happened in 2018.
Gooding’s guilty plea stems from the LAVO nightclub allegation. He had previously pleaded not guilty to six misdemeanor counts and denied allegations of wrongdoing.
Separate from the criminal case, Gooding is facing a civil lawsuit for allegedly raping a woman twice in 2013.