Judge rules Cuba Gooding Jr. will stand trial in February in NYC groping case
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. will stand trial February 1 on charges he groped women in Manhattan bars or nightclubs in 2018 and 2019, a judge said Monday.
Gooding has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor forcible touching and sexual abuse charges.
In October 2018, Gooding allegedly pinched the buttocks of a woman in the TAO downtown nightclub on 9th Avenue. When confronted, he claimed he had only touched her back.
In June 2019, Gooding allegedly made a sexually suggestive remark to a woman at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar inside the Moxy Hotel on 7th Avenue. He then put his hand on the woman's left breast and squeezed it without her consent, court records said.
The alleged victim had sat down at the bar where Gooding was with Claudine De Niro, actor Robert De Niro's ex-daughter-in-law. Prosecutors said the encounter was caught on video.
Prosecutors have also said they've talked to a dozen more women who claim Gooding inappropriately touched them.
Most of the alleged incidents occurred in other states but the Manhattan District Attorney's office would like at least some of these women to testify at trial.
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