Cuba Gooding Jr was photographed on Thursday glumly looking into the camera as New York police officers took his booking photo following his arrest on a charge of groping.

Earlier in the day, Gooding was seen has been taken to court in handcuffs to be charged with one count of forcible touching for allegedly groping a woman's breast at a New York nightclub on Sunday.

The 51-year-old actor arrived back in New York City on Thursday morning after denying that he had done anything wrong.

He was seen arriving at the Special Victims Unit in the early afternoon, smiling as he entered the building with his lawyer.

Police then took him to court where he is expected to enter a not guilty plea.

Gooding has been arrested on one count of forcible touching, a class A misdemeanour which carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

His first accuser told cops that at a party at the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar in midtown Manhattan on Sunday, the star grabbed her breast when she brought him a glass of water because he was so drunk.

A second woman has since reported him to the police for allegedly grabbing her buttocks at Butter, a different nightspot, on a different occasion.

The actor and his lawyer have both spoken out to insist he is innocent.

‘I trust the system and the process,’ a confident Gooding Jr. told TMZ before boarding a flight in California to get back to the east coast on Wednesday night.

‘There's a tape that shows what really happens and that's all.

‘I was at a club, I left, I met a bunch of people, I took pictures and... you have to have faith in what people say.’

When asked if he was guilty of the allegations, Gooding Jr. reiterated that he was ‘absolutely not’.

His lawyer later told DailyMail.com: 'We're not sure if he's going to turn himself in.

'If he hasn't committed any crime, there's no reason for him to turn himself in.

The video captures the whole evening and it shows he did nothing wrong. They can't arrest someone who did nothing wrong.'

Sources previously told DailyMail.com he grabbed the woman's breasts after she handed him a glass of water because he was so drunk.

Gooding Jr. has three children with his ex-wife. It is unclear if he is single now.

In videos shared on social media of Gooding Jr. partying on Saturday, he was seen in high-spirits sipping cocktails and singing for the crowd.

He posed with fans for photos and took videos with some who also shared them on Instagram.

-Daily Mail