Former UCLA Gynecologist Pleads Guilty to Sexual Abuse, Sentenced to 11 Years

LOS ANGELES — A former University of California, Los Angeles gynecologist pleaded guilty on Tuesday to 13 felony counts of sexual abuse involving five patients, receiving an 11-year prison sentence after an appeals court overturned his earlier conviction earlier this year.

James Heaps, 69, entered the pleas in Los Angeles County Superior Court before Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo, who imposed the same term he had been serving since his 2023 sentencing. The charges included six counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation, five counts of sexual battery by fraud, and two counts of sexual exploitation of a patient. Heaps, appearing in jail attire, must also register as a sex offender for life and will be eligible for parole in 2028, accounting for time served.

Heaps had been convicted in October 2022 of five counts related to two patients following a trial in downtown Los Angeles. Jurors acquitted him on charges involving two others and deadlocked on nine counts concerning four additional women. The California 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed the conviction in February, ruling that Superior Court Judge Michael Carter deprived Heaps of a fair...