UCLA gynecologist pleads guilty to 13 sexual abuse charges and is sentenced to 11 years in prison

A former University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gynecologist pleaded guilty to 13 felony sexual abuse charges on Tuesday in connection with the sexual assault of several patients over his career, and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

James Heaps was originally sentenced in 2023 to 11 years in prison after being convicted of five counts of sexual battery and penetration involving two patients. That sentence was overturned by an appeals court in February, which ruled that Heaps was denied a fair trial because the judge did not share with his attorneys a note from the court’s foreman sharing concerns about a juror’s English proficiency.

Instead of going to trial again, Heaps pleaded guilty to 13 felonies involving a total of five victims and was again sentenced to 11 years in prison. He also must register as a sex offender for life.

After his conviction was overturned in February, his attorney Leonard Levine said he believed “it’s just a matter of time before he is totally exonerated”.

Levine did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the guilty plea.

The renowned UCLA campus gynecologist 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. The charges were linked to the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018.

In the wake of the scandal that erupted in 2019 following the doctor’s arrest, UCLA agreed to pay nearly $700m 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.

John Manly, who represented more than 200 of Heaps’ former patients in lawsuits against the university, said Heaps’ guilty plea and sentence sends a clear message that “there will be severe consequences for any violation of patients’ rights and dignity”.