Cuba Gooding Jr. avoids jail time after pleading guilty to forcible touching
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The actor’s guilty misdemeanor plea was changed to a harassment violation after he underwent six months of alcohol counseling.
Cuba Gooding Jr. will not be getting any jail time for his forcible touching conviction. This comes after the actor complied with a conditional plea deal he took to plead guilty to the charge in April.
The “Boyz in the Hood” star was arrested in 2019 after a woman accused him of fondling her without her consent at the New York nightclub, Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was also accused of pinching the buttocks of a TAO Downtown worker in 2018, as well as forcibly kissing a LAVO New York waitress that same year.
Gooding initially denied any wrongdoing and pled not guilty to a total of six misdemeanor counts. His lawyers stated at the time that the #MeToo Movement influenced the prosecutor to get overzealous.
The Academy Award-winner pled guilty to forcible touching, admitting that he kissed the waitress without her consent. On Thursday, prosecutor Coleen Balbert stated that Gooding’s misdemeanor plea was downgraded to a harassment violation after he was able to stay out of trouble for six months. During that time, Gooding got alcohol and behavior modification counseling.
Balbert also stated that she received “positive reports for the last six months” from Gooding’s therapist, who said he will continue therapy beyond the time required in the plea deal.
As a result, Gooding’s now noncriminal violation plea gets him off the hook for jail time. He was facing up to a year imprisonment had he failed to comply with the terms of the plea agreement.
Originally, Judge Curtis Farber stated that the prosecution would be able to include two additional women who have accused Gooding of sexual violation as testifying witnesses if the case went to trial. After Farber reversed that decision, the prosecution pursued a plea deal with Gooding.
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The post Cuba Gooding Jr. avoids jail time after pleading guilty to forcible touching appeared first on TheGrio.
