Cuba Gooding Jr. is reportedly “dumbfounded” about new information that delayed his sexual misconduct trial in New York. The 51-year-old actor has been accused by 14 women of groping them at bars and clubs over the years.
According to the Associated Press, the actor pleaded not guilty to an arraignment on four misdemeanor counts of forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse stemming from an incident at a bar in Times Square over the summer. The case was initially delayed in light of the prosecution’s attempt to showcase an alleged pattern of inappropriate behavior for Gooding.
Prosecutor Jenna Long then presented 12 allegations from the 12 other women who claimed they either groped, bit or pinched by Gooding Jr. in an intimate area. The incidents reportedly happened as far back as 2001 in various cities like Las Vegas, Dallas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prosecutors plan to have the women testify against the actor.
“The defendant’s past behavior shows that he routinely approaches women while at bars or nightclubs with whom he has limited or no prior interaction, and touches them inappropriately,” wrote assistant district attorney Jenna Long.
Some of the allegations include Gooding at the Cafe Habana in Malibu, where he allegedly reached under a woman’s skirt and touched her vagina over her underwear. The woman saw the actor recently and attacked him over the incident. Another woman claimed in 2006, Gooding approached her from behind at Chi in Hollywood and bit her shoulder.
Variety reports the woman turned around to ask the actor if he did the act but he shrugged his shoulders. After doing it again, the actor allegedly pulled up her skirt and dry humped her leg.
The actor is expected back in court Dec. 13.