New charges filed against Cuba Gooding Jr.

Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Manhattan District Attorney indicted actor Cuba Gooding Jr. on two more misdemeanor sexual misconduct charges on Tuesday, bringing the total number of charges he faces to six.

Gooding, 51, pleaded not guilty last week to a four-count indictment of forcible touching and third-degree sex abuse for fondling two women on two separate occasions.

Prosecutors said Gooding was charged Tuesday with additional counts of forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse.

His lawyer, Mark Jay Heller, said he will plead not guilty.

Last week, prosecutors said there are about a dozen women waiting to testify that Gooding had committed similar crimes against them. It is unknown if the new accuser is among this group.

The Oscar-winning actor is to be arraigned on the new charges Oct. 31.

Heller said in a statement to the New York Post the new charges are a product of his client being a celebrity and are unfounded.

"The new accuser is just one more splinter that comes out of the woodwork when a celebrity is criminally charged, but none of the splinters will form a plank leading to his conviction because he has not committed any crime," Heller said.

The new indictment will be unsealed Thursday, he said.

On June 13, Gooding surrendered to New York City police on the original misdemeanor charges for having touched a 29-year-old woman at a Manhattan lounge.