Trial Date Set in Cuba Gooding Jr. Groping Case

Cuba Gooding Jr. Surrenders (Credit: YouTube/ CBS New York)

Cuba Gooding Jr. is headed to trial in his New York City groping case, more than two years after his arrest.

A judge set the Jerry Maguire actor’s criminal trial for Feb. 1, 2022, according to the Associated Press.

Related Story: Cuba Gooding Jr. Enters Plea Amid 12 New Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Gooding is accused of inappropriate touching by three different women at three different Manhattan nightclubs between 2018 and 2019.  

“I want to lock this down for trial,” Judge Curtis Farber said Monday at a hearing in state court in Manhattan. “This case has been on my calendar for two years, going on three years.”

Gooding, 53, was originally due to go on trial in April of last year, but the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic delayed the start date.

The Oscar-winning actor was arrested in June of 2019 after a woman accused him of touching her breast without consent at a Manhattan night spot. He was then charged in two additional 2018 incidents after two other women came forward. 

Prosecutors allege the actor repeatedly approached women in bars, and touched, groped, kissed, and bit them without consent.

In all, Gooding faces six misdemeanor counts of alleged sexual misconduct against the three women. He has maintained he is innocent.

The Men of Honor star is also accused of raping a woman in 2013 in a separate lawsuit.  According to published reports, he could owe millions of dollars in damages.