Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. has avoided jail time after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of forcible touch.
According to CNN, on Thursday (Oct. 13) the 54-year-old reached compliance with his plea agreement, as confirmed by Emily Tuttle, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
This indicates that for the past six months, he’s attended “alcohol and behavior modification” treatment and counted zero new arrests. The news outlet reported Gooding Jr. also pleaded guilty to a lesser harassment violation that will always remain on his record, but no criminal charges will remain.
The actor initially entered the plea deal in April. Although he was accused of violating three women at various Manhattan venues in 2018 and 2019, the deal was for one incident. In his plea, Gooding Jr. confessed to kissing a waitress in the mouth without consent.
“I apologize for making anybody ever feel inappropriately touched,” he expressed at the time. “I am a celebrity figure. I come into contact with people. I never want them to feel slighted or uncomfortable in any way.”
As VIBE previously reported, the Jerry McGuire actor has pleaded not guilty to four misdemeanor counts of forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse, with accusations against the actor totaling at least 12 allegations from at least 12 different women dating back to 2001.
After this week’s hearing, one of his accusers, Kelsey Harbert spoke outside of the courtroom.
“At what point are we going to take this seriously? When will we decide that this is dangerous behavior? And when is it the court’s responsibility to protect the public from someone like him?” Harbert asked when speaking to reporters. “The system is supposed to be about what he did. Not who he is.