Entertainment

Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Not Guilty To New Sexual Abuse Charges

Alec Tabak/Pool via REUTERS

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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Cuba Gooding Jr. arrived in handcuffs Thursday and plead not guilty to additional sexual abuse charges from a third accuser in New York City.

The 51-year-old actor was spotted walking into a Manhattan courthouse to enter a plea to new groping allegations, though the details of those charges were not provided in court, according to NBC News. (RELATED: Cuba Gooding Jr.’s Lawyer Claims Video Surveillance Shows No Groping Occurred)

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The “Jerry Maguire” star‘s attorney, Mark Jay Heller, left the courtroom and called out prosecutors for “maliciously prosecuting” Cuba, per  TMZ. (RELATED: Cuba Gooding Jr. Charged With Forcible Touching, According To Police)

Heller also said he felt confident that the case will result in no conviction against his client.

It comes after the outlet obtained surveillance video from the TAO nightclub showing the “Radio” star coming in contact with a server, Natasha Ashworth, who has accused the actor of pinching her buttocks without her consent.

Heller later told the outlet that the video shows that “at roughly 4:30 AM at the end of the day, Cuba is exiting the facility and, with the back of his hand — his fingernail — he taps the lady in the back and turns around to give her a high-five just as a salutation of goodbye. It’s not criminal conduct whatsoever.”

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As previously reported, Gooding Jr. has already pleaded not guilty to two counts of forcible touching and two counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

Gooding also pleaded not guilty to allegations from earlier this year from when a woman accused him of touching her breast without her consent.

The indictment against the actor also includes 12 sexual misconduct allegations, none of which the “Men of Honor” star is being charged. The incidents range from 2001 to 2018, per Deadline.

Prosecutors say they included them to show a “pattern of behavior.”

In total, the “Men of Honor” now faces three counts each of forcible touching and third degree sex abuse. He is expected back in court in January.