Former UCLA gynecologist gets 11 years in prison for sexually abusing patients

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A former UCLA gynecologist-oncologist was sentenced to 11 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five patients.

James Heaps, 69, pleaded guilty to six felony counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person, five felony counts of sexual battery by fraud and two felony counts of sexual exploitation of a patient, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.

His plea comes about two months after the California Court of Appeals overturned his 2022 conviction because the trial judge had failed to inform the attorneys that, during deliberations, the jury had sent him note that one of the jurors — an alternate who had replaced another juror — didn’t understand enough English to participate.

“Today marks the second time that we’re holding James Heaps responsible for the unconscionable crimes he committed while being entrusted with the safety of his patients,” LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “For years, Heaps exploited the sacred trust between a doctor and patient to prey on vulnerable victims during medical procedures."

In 2022, a jury convicted Heaps of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person.

The jurors acquitted him on three counts of sexual battery by fraud, three counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and one count of sexual exploitation of a patient, and they were hung on three further counts of sexual battery by fraud, four counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person and two counts of sexual exploitation of a patient.

He was sentenced to 11 years in prison following the trial.

That conviction and sentence were reversed in February after the appellate panel concluded that the judge’s failure to inform Heaps’ lawyer about the jury note deprived the doctor of his right to counsel.

The judge had sent his judicial assistant to speak with the juror who told him in Spanish that he understood enough English to continue deliberating.

Heaps was once among the highest-paid physicians in the UC system, having treated thousands of patients during his 35 years at UCLA. The university has paid out nearly $700 million to settle civil claims made by hundreds of women who accused Heaps of sexual assaulting them during medical examinations, and of scheduling unnecessary appointments and procedures for financial gain.

That sum at the time was believed to be the largest payout by a public university over sexual abuse accusations — more than the University of Michigan paid to settle claims of abuse by physician Larry Nassar, though considerably less than the $1.1 billion paid out by the private University of Southern California to settle claims of abuse by its gynecologist George Tyndall.

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