(Reuters) – Cuba Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty yesterday to a misdemeanor count of forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018, as part of an agreement with prosecutors that spares the Oscar-winning actor any immediate jail time.
The guilty plea, in which Gooding also admitted in court to subjecting two other women to “non-consensual physical contact” in 2018 and 2019, came three years after he was arrested, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement.
Under the plea agreement, if the 54-year-old Gooding continues to undergo court-ordered counseling for six months, he can withdraw his misdemeanor plea and plead guilty to a lesser violation of harassment.
If he fails to comply, he faces up to one year in jail.
The actor had been accused of violating three different women at various Manhattan night spots in 2018 and 2019.
