Cuba Gooding Jr. gets no-jail plea deal in Manhattan sex abuse case

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FIRST ON FOX: Cuba Gooding Jr. hammered out a no-jail plea deal with Manhattan prosecutors Wednesday – nearly three years after he made international headlines when he was arrested on sex abuse charges.

The "Men of Honor" actor, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor forcible touching in Manhattan Supreme Court for kissing a woman without her consent at LAVO Nightclub on the Upper East Side in September 2018. 

He also apologized for subjecting two other women to non-consensual physical contact. Prosecutor allege he squeezed a 30-year-old woman’s breast at the Moxy Hotel in Times Square in June 2019 and pinched the behind of a TAO Downtown server in October 2018.

Gooding was originally indicted on six misdemeanor counts for inappropriately touching three women in separate incidents. 

If he keeps his nose clean and continues therapy for six months, the charge with be reduced to harassment as a violation, which is not a crime.

Cuba Gooding Jr. leaves criminal court in New York June 13, 2019.  (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

The deal allows Gooding to avoid a criminal record, giving him a shot at salvaging his career, sources told Fox News Digital.

CUBA GOODING JR. ACCUSED OF 2013 RAPE IN CIVIL LAWSUIT

Under prior DA Cyrus Vance Jr., prosecutors played hardball with the "Jerry Maguire" actor, refusing to make any offer that didn't involve jail time. 

But the Oscar-winner fired his defense lawyer Mark Heller and hired bail bondsman and fixer Ira Judelson who recommended attorney Frank Rothman about five months ago. 

Rothman was able to negotiate the more favorable agreement under new DA Alvin Bragg who took office in January. 

"This never should have gone this far," said Rothman. "This was the appropriate resolution that should have been reached years ago."

Rothman told Fox News Digital that he met with Bragg personally and argued that Gooding had turned his life around. He has done charity work and sought alcohol abuse treatment and behavioral therapy, the lawyer said.

Cuba Gooding Jr. and girlfriend Claudine De Niro attend an event on Sept. 16, 2019, in New York City.  (Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Assistant District Attorney Coleen Balbert said in court that prosecutors had considered several factors in offering the plea deal – including sparing the victims from having to testify at trial and Justice Curtis Farber reversing an earlier ruling. 

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Prosecutors had sought to call 19 additional accusers, whose claims did not result in criminal charges, and the judge ruled that two of them could testify at trial. The judge later changed course and barred that testimony, Balbert said.

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Gooding was first arrested in June 2019 – but the case and his career have languished ever since. The trial date was repeatedly pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.

His girlfriend, Claudine De Niro, the ex-wife of actor Robert De Niro's son, has stood by him since the allegations first surfaced.

Gooding is due back in court Oct. 13.