Cuba Gooding Jr faces trial in February for groping women

Cuba Gooding Jr faces trial in February for groping women

Some 20 women have accused the US actor of sexual assault or sexual harassment since 2019.

US actor Cuba Gooding Jr is accused of inappropriately touching one woman in a restaurant in 2018. (AFP pic)
NEW YORK:
Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr will go on trial in New York in February on charges he groped three women, a judge ruled Monday.

The “Jerry Maguire” star’s trial had been due to start in April 2020 but was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic.

New York Judge Curtis Farber set a new date of Feb 1, 2022, Gooding’s attorney Peter Toumbekis told AFP via email.

Since 2019, some 20 women have accused Gooding of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

The 53-year-old is accused of inappropriately touching one woman in a restaurant in Manhattan in September 2018.

He is also accused of pinching a second woman’s buttocks at a nightclub the next month and of grabbing another woman’s breast without her consent at a New York bar in June 2019.

Gooding has denied the charges but could face jail time if found guilty.

In a separate civil case filed last year, a woman accused Gooding of raping her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.

He became known for his role in the movie “Boyz n the Hood” (1991) before his Oscar win for best supporting actor in 1997 for American football movie “Jerry Maguire.”

Gooding’s would be the latest high-profile trial of a celebrity to have come out of the #MeToo movement following the convictions of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and R&B singer R Kelly.

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