A former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles entered a guilty plea Tuesday to charges of sexually abusing patients, following an appellate court’s decision to overturn his earlier conviction this year.
James Heaps received an 11-year prison sentence in 2023 after a jury found him guilty on five charges of sexual battery and penetration related to two patients. However, an appellate court threw out that conviction in February, determining that Heaps did not receive a fair trial because the presiding judge failed to inform defense lawyers about a jury foreman’s note expressing concerns regarding another juror’s ability to understand English.
Rather than face another trial, Heaps admitted guilt to 13 felony charges connected to five victims and received the same 11-year prison term.
Following the February appeal ruling, defense attorney Leonard Levine had expressed confidence that “it’s just a matter of time before he is totally exonerated.”
Levine has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding Tuesday’s guilty plea.
The well-known UCLA gynecologist faced an indictment in 2021 on numerous charges including sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient, and sexual penetration of an unconscious person through fraudulent representation. These charges stemmed from sexual assaults against seven women that occurred from 2009 through 2018.
Following the 2019 scandal that broke after the physician’s arrest, UCLA reached settlement agreements totaling nearly $700 million with hundreds of Heaps’ former patients — setting a record for payouts by a public university during a series of sexual misconduct cases involving campus medical staff.
Former patients reported that Heaps inappropriately touched them, made sexual remarks, or performed unnecessary invasive procedures throughout his 35-year medical career.
Attorney John Manly, who represented over 200 former patients in legal action against the university, stated that Heaps’ admission of guilt and prison sentence demonstrates that “there will be severe consequences for any violation of patients’ rights and dignity.”
