2nd Woman Accuses Cuba Gooding Jr. of Groping

A second woman has come forward claiming Cuba Gooding Jr. groped her, even as the actor now faces charges of forcible touching prompted by the first woman’s allegations earlier this week.

According to NBC News, the New York City Police Department confirmed on Thursday that the second woman filed a police report on Monday, alleging that Gooding Jr., 51, grabbed her butt after midnight on March 1, 2008, at a club in Manhattan.

While speaking with reporters shortly after Gooding Jr. turned himself in on Thursday, attorney Mark Heller noted that the second accusation would most likely not stand.

“We heard that somebody sorta came out of the woodwork and alleged there was a touching of her derriere over a decade ago. I spoke to Cuba; he has no knowledge of it. ...I have no belief that this will go any further because there's a two-year statute of limitation."

INITIAL ALLEGATIONS

Gooding Jr. turned himself in at the New York Police Department on Thursday after a woman claimed he grabbed her breasts while partying at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar and Lounge in Midtown Manhattan around 9 pm on Sunday.

The woman claimed the Oscar winner was drunk when the incident happened and said they got into an argument immediately after he touched her inappropriately, prompting security to break them up. The woman called 911 around 1:00 am, but responding officers did not find Gooding Jr. when they searched the area for him.

'ABSOLUTELY NOT' GUILTY

It appeared the actor left New York after the incident because TMZ caught up with him as he boarded a flight from LA to New York on Tuesday night and he protested his innocence.

Gooding Jr. insisted that he was “absolutely not” guilty and expressed trust in the system. “I trust the system and the process to speak for itself,” he said. “There's a tape that shows what really happened; that’s the most important thing.”

COURT APPEARANCE

Heller initially said he found “no criminality taking place on the part of” his client but new surveillance footage has since emerged showing Gooding Jr. touching the accuser’s thigh and cleavage.

Gooding Jr. appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday in handcuffs, reported NBC News. The actor has reportedly been charged with forcible touching and sex abuse in the third degree, to which Heller entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.

ATTORNEY STATEMENT

Heller told reporters he was “shocked and horrified” that prosecutors went ahead to pursue charges against his client whom he described as a "very friendly, frisky type of fella."

"It's very unfortunate and we are all very sympathetic to people that are victims and that are abused, but what is also extremely disturbing is when someone who comes forward and alleges abuse was not abused, which I think was the case here."

Gooding Jr. has since been released without bail.