Hollywood actor, Cuba Gooding Jr., who is currently facing charges for sexually abusing three women, has in a new lawsuit been accused of raping a woman in 2013.
The 52-year-old actor, according to the civil lawsuit filed on Tuesday, August 19, is accused of raping the alleged victim twice inside his New York City hotel room at the time, Variety reports.
The lawsuit, filed publicly in Manhattan federal court, alleged that the Oscar-winning ‘Jerry Maguire’ actor assaulted the woman, identified in court papers as ‘Jane Doe’ to protect her privacy, after she met him at a Greenwich Village, VIP lounge.
The civil lawsuit states that the unidentified woman alleged that Gooding invited her to his room at The Mercer Hotel in SoHo, “so he could change his clothes”.
He then allegedly blocked the exit when she insisted on leaving the room to meet a friend waiting downstairs.
Gooding, who was naked, pushed her onto the bed and touched the woman “forcibly and without consent”.
According to the lawsuit, Gooding allegedly raped the woman twice, ignoring multiple pleas for him to stop.
The alleged victim is now suing Gooding Jr. for an alleged ‘crime of violence’ committed on the basis of gender and is seeking a trial by jury, an unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
In his reaction, Gooding Jr.’s attorney, Mark Heller, denied the claims made by the anonymous accuser.
Heller stated;
The allegations against Cuba Gooding Jr. are false and perjurious. There was absolutely no conduct committed in a criminal nature as alleged. We expect the case to be dismissed. It was an alleged incident that took place over seven years ago with no criminal complaint at the time.
The accusations against the actor comes just five days after he appeared in court in New York for accusations of;
Three counts of forcible touching and three counts of sex abuse to the third degree in separate incidents involving three different women.
According to state prosecutors, more than 20 women have made sexual assault claims against Gooding since allegations first arose against him in 2019.
Gooding has denied all claims and pleaded not guilty. He will appear at another hearing on September 1. If convicted he faces up to one year in prison.
