The actor also admitted to two other incidents of non-consensual contact in October 2018 and June 2019.
Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded guilty to forcible touching, a class A misdemeanor.
The misdemeanor is the top count in the New York State Supreme Court indictment Gooding Jr. faced on Wednesday, for forcibly kissing a woman at a nightclub in September 2018. The actor also admitted to two other incidents of non-consensual contact in October 2018 and June 2019.
Under the terms of the plea, Gooding Jr. has to continue the alcohol and behavior modification treatment he began in 2019 for six more months and have no new arrests. If the actor follows those terms, he can plead to harassment in the second degree and possibly have his case sealed. If not, he faces up to one year in jail.
Gooding Jr.'s attorney Peter Toumbekis told ET, "Today, two of the three cases were dismissed, and as for the third case, Cuba Gooding Jr. entered into a re-pleader today whereby in six months his case will be disposed of with a violation, which is not a crime, resulting in no criminal record."
The actor was arrested and charged in June 2019 after a then-30-year-old woman alleged he squeezed her breast while the two were at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge on the night of June 9, 2018. The court added more charges over the allegations from September and October 2018.
According to court documents obtained by ET, Gooding Jr. was accused of pinching the buttocks of a woman without her consent while at TAO nightclub in NYC on Oct. 24, 2018. In the docs, the woman says she confronted the Oscar winner after the alleged incident, and he claimed he only pinched her back, not her buttocks. The accuser further alleges that Gooding Jr. also made a "sexually suggestive remark" to her earlier that same night.
That indictment included 12 witnesses with allegations for which Gooding Jr was not charged, but prosecutors included to show a pattern of behavior.
The then-51-year-old turned himself into the Manhattan Special Victims Unit in June, maintaining his innocence and pleading not guilty to all charges. ET learned that Gooding was processed at a precinct in East Harlem before being transported to an arraignment center, according to multiple sources. According to arraignment documents, Gooding Jr. was released without bail afterward.
Gooding Jr. is also facing a civil lawsuit alleging he raped an unidentified woman twice in New York in 2013. The actor didn't respond to the lawsuit in July 2021, resulting in U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty issuing a default judgment. The actor has since hired an attorney to fight that allegation, according to the AP.
Attorney Gloria Allred responded to Wednesday's decision, telling ET, "It has been reported that more than 19 women came forward and made allegations against Mr. Gooding and that many were willing to testify as Molineux (prior bad-act witnesses) in this case. I represented at least three of the women who were willing to testify as Molineux witnesses. Unfortunately, however, the judge refused to allow the testimony of any of the Molineux witnesses, which the prosecutor wanted to be able to call as witnesses if this case went to trial. That was a significant setback for the prosecution."
"Justice was significantly delayed in this case for many reasons, and I do not feel that justice was achieved today with the entry of this plea, although I do understand why, under the circumstances, that the prosecution offered a plea," she added. "My law firm and New York attorney, Casey Wolnowski, will continue to litigate our civil case against Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Federal court in New York on behalf of our brave client (aka Jane Doe) who alleges in her lawsuit that Cuba Gooding, Jr. committed an act of gender violence against her. We look forward to achieving a just result in this lawsuit that we have filed against Cuba Gooding, Jr."
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