Cuba Gooding Jr faces February trial in New York groping case

Oscar-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr will go on trial in New York in February on charges he groped three women, a judge ruled Monday.

The "Jerry Maguire" star's trial had been due to start in April 2020 but was postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic.

New York Judge Curtis Farber set a new date of February 1, 2022, Gooding's attorney Peter Toumbekis told AFP via email.

Since 2019, some 20 women have accused Gooding of sexual assault or sexual harassment.

The 53-year-old is accused of inappropriately touching one women in a restaurant in Manhattan in September 2018.

He is also accused of pinching a second woman's buttocks at a nightclub the next month and of grabbing another woman's breast without her consent at a New York bar in June 2019.

Gooding has denied the charges but could face jail time if found guilty.

In a separate civil case filed last year, a woman accused Gooding of raping her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.

He became known for his role in the movie "Boyz n the Hood" (1991) before his Oscar win for best supporting actor in 1997 for American football movie "Jerry Maguire."

Gooding's would be the latest high-profile trial of a celebrity to have come out of the #MeToo movement following the convictions of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and R&B singer R. Kelly.

© 2021 AFP