Ex-UCLA gynecologist sentenced to 11 years in sex abuse case
A former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing female patients over the course of a 35-year career
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing female patients, in a criminal trial that came after the university system made nearly $700 million in lawsuit payouts connected to the case.
Dr. James Heaps, 66, has been in custody since a jury convicted him in October of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of two patients.
After sentencing Heaps, Judge Michael D. Carter ordered him to register as a sex offender, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.
Heaps, a longtime UCLA campus gynecologist, had pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts in the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. The jury found him not guilty of seven of the 21 counts and was deadlocked on the remaining charges.
Heaps was indicted in 2021 on multiple counts each of sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient and sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation.
In the wake of the scandal that erupted in 2019 following the doctor’s arrest, UCLA agreed to pay nearly $700 million in lawsuit settlements to hundreds of Heaps’ patients — a record amount by a public university amid a wave of sexual misconduct scandals by campus doctors in recent years.
UCLA patients said Heaps groped them, made suggestive comments or conducted unnecessarily invasive exams during his 35-year career. Women who brought the lawsuits said the university ignored their complaints and deliberately concealed abuse that happened for decades during examinations at the UCLA student health center, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or in Heaps’ campus office.
Heaps continued to practice until his retirement in June 2018.