Cuba Gooding Jr. and his girlfriendClaudine De Niro enjoy a Mexican vacation...after he pled guilt

Cuba Gooding Jr. and his girlfriend Claudine De Niro were pictured enjoying a beach vacation in Tulum, Mexico on Thursday.

The sighting of the 54-year-old actor and Claudine comes after he plead guilty to one count of forcible touching in April, following an incident that took place at a nightclub in 2018.

Claudine, 42 - who was married to Raphael De Niro, the son of actor Robert DeNiro, from 2008-2017 - showed off her figure in a two-piece bikini as they lounged together on the beach.

Vacation: Cuba Gooding Jr. and his girlfriend Claudine De Niro enjoyed a beach in Mexico on their vacation in Tulum on Thursday

The criminal case accused the Oscar-winning star of violating three different women at various Manhattan night spots in 2018 and 2019.

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While his criminal case may be over, an attorney representing an alleged sexual assault victim of the actor said she will proceed with an ongoing $6 million civil lawsuit because 'justice was not achieved' when Gooding Jr. got a no-jail plea deal in a separate criminal case.

Famed women's rights lawyer Gloria Allred, 80, issued a statement decrying a New York State Supreme Court judge's decision not to allow 19 alleged victims, two of whom she represented, to testify against Gooding Jr. during pre-trial hearings for admissibility of evidence.

'Unfortunately, however, the judge refused to allow the testimony of any of the Molineux witnesses, which the prosecutor wanted to be able to call as witnesses if this case went to trial. That was a significant setback for the prosecution,' Allred said, according to Deadline.

Getting a tan: The 54-year-old actor and De Niro, 42, walked down the street to the beach where they removed their shirts and soaked up the sun

Lazy day: De Niro lounged on a chair while texting and Gooding Jr. walked about in his blue bathing suit

Less cheerful news: Their appearance out came just a couple months after he pled guilty to one count of forcible touching

Civil justice? While his criminal case may be over, an attorney representing an alleged sexual assault victim of the actor said she will proceed with an ongoing $6 million civil lawsuit

The actor, whose net worth is approximately $12 million, pleaded guilty to one count of forcible touching of a 29-year-old victim, and entered a no-jail plea deal.

He also admitted to subjecting two other women to non-consensual physical contact in October 2018 and June 2019.

The self-proclaimed feminist lawyer said that her client, a Jane Doe who accused Gooding Jr. of raping her at a hotel room in SoHo in 2013, will proceed with a pending $6 million civil lawsuit filed in 2020.

'Justice was significantly delayed in this case for many reasons, and I do not feel that justice was achieved today with the entry of this plea, although I do understand why under the circumstances that the prosecution offered a plea,' the statement added.

'My law firm ... will continue to litigate our civil case against Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Federal court in New York on behalf of our brave client.'

Allred, who has handled numerous high-profile cases and represented Jeffrey Epstein's and Bill Cosby's victims, said she hopes the civil case yields a just result after criminal proceedings against the Hollywood star proved to be unsatisfactory.

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Argument: They said letting Doe invoke the seven-year statute of limitations under a New York City law protecting victims of gender-motivated violence violated Gooding's due process rights under the U.S. and New York state constitutions

Delays: The criminal case has been scheduled to go to trial at least twice, with an April 2020 trial date scuttled as coronavirus cases surged

Doe's lawyers argued the seven-year statute of limitations applies in this case, and have also rejected a defense request that their client reveal her name, saying the case involved 'matters of a highly sensitive and personal nature.'

The criminal case has been scheduled to go to trial at least twice, with an April 2020 trial date scuttled as coronavirus cases surged in New York and the state shut down most court matters due to the pandemic.

Gooding was arrested in June 2019 after a 29-year-old woman told police he squeezed her breast without her consent at Magic Hour Rooftop Bar & Lounge near Times Square.

A few months later, he was charged in two additional cases as more women came forward to accuse him of abuse.

The charges alleged he pinched a server's buttocks after making a sexually suggestive remark to her at TAO Downtown and forcibly touched a woman inappropriately at the LAVO New York nightclub, both in 2018.

Surveillance footage emerged in 2019 of one of the alleged groping incidents. The video does not show him clearly grabbing her buttocks but it does show him reaching out toward her back and rear.

The TAO victim won a default judgment against Gooding last year after he failed to respond to her lawsuit for over a year. The judgment will allow the victim to seek monetary damages.

Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty to the LAVO nightclub allegation. He had previously pleaded not guilty to six misdemeanor counts and denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

Charges: The charges alleged he pinched a server's buttocks after making a sexually suggestive remark to her at TAO Downtown and forcibly touched a woman inappropriately at the LAVO New York nightclub (pictured with De Niro 2019)

Argument: His lawyers have argued that overzealous prosecutors, caught up in the fervor of the #MeToo movement, are trying to turn 'commonplace gestures' or misunderstandings into crimes (pictured 2019)

His lawyers have argued that overzealous prosecutors, caught up in the fervor of the #MeToo movement, are trying to turn 'commonplace gestures' or misunderstandings into crimes.

This reared its head during one of the victim impact statements, in which Gooding's defense attorney called one of the victims 'delusional' and frequently interrupted her, according to the New York Daily News.

The judge had ruled that if the Gooding case went to trial, prosecutors could have called two additional women to testify about their allegations that Gooding also violated them.

Those women, whose claims did not result in criminal charges, were among 19 other accusers whom prosecutors were seeking to call as witnesses.

THE CHARGES AND ALLEGATIONS

June 2019 - 2 counts; forcible touching and sexual abuse

Gooding Jr. has been charged with forcible touching and third degree sexual abuse - both misdemeanors - for allegedly touching a woman's breast at the Magic Hour Rooftop in Manhattan this June. He denies it.

October 2018 - 2 counts; forcible touching and sexual abuse

The grand jury indictment is connected to a different incident, in October last year at Tao nightclub in Manhattan.

For that incident, he is charged with forcible touching and third degree sexual abuse.

September 2018: Two misdemeanor charges relating to an incident in New York City

Papers filed by prosecutors on Tuesday also describe 12 other incidents over which he has not been charged but which prosecutors think constitute misconduct. They include:

1) A 2001 incident at the W Hotel where he approached a woman he had never met and 'rubbed his groin and pelvis against her buttocks while simultaneously grabbed her buttocks and breast with his hand'.

2) A 2003 incident at the Yard House in Long Beach where he allegedly put his hand on another woman's buttocks and 'squeezed it' while they had a photo taken together. He then told her: 'You've got a good piece of a**'

3) A 2006 incident at Chi, a bar in Hollywood, where he approached a woman from behind and 'bit her shoulder, on her bare back' twice, then 'thrust his pelvis' against her leg and 'attempted to lift the bottom of her shirt up'

4) A 2007 incident at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas where, at a 'movie related event', 'forcibly pulled' a woman towards him and 'attempted to kiss her' after calling her and her friends over to his table. He then allegedly 'licked' her face and 'grabbed her buttocks'

The next night, he allegedly grabbed the same woman and placed his tongue against her closed lips

5) An incident at Butter, a now closed nightclub in Manhattan, sometime between 2007 and 2008 where he allegedly grabbed another woman's buttocks and 'squeezed' it as she walked through a crowd

6) An incident in 2011 at a bar in Los Angeles where he allegedly placed his hand inside a woman's blouse and 'squeezed her bare breast' and told her: 'sit on my face and pee in my mouth'

7) An October 2011 incident at Sfuzzi's in Dallas, Texas, where he allegedly grabbed a woman's buttocks and 'rubbed' them

8) A November 2013 incident at the Chatwal Hotel in New York where he 'grabbed a woman's buttocks and licked her neck'

9) A 2014 incident at Cafe Havana in Malibu where he 'reached under a woman's skirt and touched her vagina over her underwear'

10) A 2015 incident at Nobu, Malibu, where he 'attempted to kiss' a woman then bit her shoulder. When she argued with him, he allegedly called her a 'c**t' and a 'b***h'.

11) An incident 'approximately five years ago' at Burt's Tiki Lounge in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he 'grabbed a woman's buttocks' then told her to stop smoking cigarettes.

12) On August 16, 2018, at the Shore Bar in Santa Monica, told a woman: 'Damn, you're hot', asked if she was married then asked her to lean in closer to him where her proceeded to 'grab her buttocks and breast and forcibly kissed her, inserting his tongue into her mouth'

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Larita Shotwell

Update: 2024-02-24

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