Dr James Heaps: Former UCLA gynecologist, 66, sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing multiple patients
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Former UCLA gynecologist Dr James Heaps was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, for sexually abusing multiple patients between 2013 and 2017. Judge Michael D Carter ordered him to register as a sex offender after his sentencing, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said in a statement. Heaps appeared in a Burbank courtroom wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, wearing glasses, and a goatee, the Los Angeles Times reported. He did not testify or make any statements during the sentencing.
The former cancer specialist was in custody since October 2022 after being convicted of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of two patients. He 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, as per the Associated Press. Heaps was first 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. After his scandal came to light in 2019, UCLA paid nearly $700 million to settle lawsuits filed by hundreds of Heaps’ patients.
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Heaps’ victims claimed that he often groped them, made suggestive comments, or conducted unnecessarily invasive exams during his 35-year career as a gynecologist, the publication noted. Women, who filed the lawsuits against the doctor, alleged that the university ignored their complaints and intentionally attempted to conceal the abuse that took place for decades during examinations at the UCLA student health center, the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, or in Heaps’ campus office. Heaps reportedly continued to practice until his retirement in June 2018, as per the outlet.
‘Now the healing can begin’
“For four years we have been fighting, today we finally have a reason to smile,” Ellen Cater, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told the Los Angeles Times after Heaps’ sentencing. “I hope that the settlement by UCLA and today’s sentencing will encourage any victims of sexual assault to come forward,” she added. Cater said she felt alone when she first spoke out against the abuse but was able to unite with the other women. “Now the healing can begin,” she shared.
Another victim called Jane T opened up about suffering anxiety due to Heaps’ actions. “I’m still living with a lot of anxiety. I’ve gone to some very dark places in my thoughts,” she said in a written statement read in court before the sentencing. Other victims also echoed similar thoughts in their respective written statements and said they no longer trust male doctors due to Heaps’ abuse. “I was proud to be a patient there,” plaintiff Natalie B said in a statement read in court. “It has been absolutely ruined. The defendant has made the place where my babies were born a traumatizing trigger,” she added.
Prosecutors asked for a 13-year sentence for James Heaps
Prosecutors reportedly asked for a 13-year prison sentence for Heaps, the maximum amount of time under the convictions of which he was found guilty, the Los Angeles Times reported. Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers claimed that Heaps sexually abused his patients out of arrogance because he thought he could get away with it. “We hold our doctors to a certain level of professionalism. We go to them with our most serious issues in life and we say to them: ‘Help us,’” she said. “Now he’s got to face the music and pay for it,” she added.
Meyers also expressed her disappointment over Heaps’ defense attorneys’ request for a lower-end sentence. “What the defendant did in this case was wrong. These victims suffered this wrong,” she stated. The defense team reportedly asked the court to consider Heaps’ extensive career as an oncologist and gynecologist before the sentencing.
“He gave a lot of his career to UCLA. He’s someone who has done a lot of good in his life. This is a blip in that career,” attorney Tracy Brown told the court.
Prior to his sentencing, Heaps asked for a new trial citing multiple reasons, including his claims about receiving ineffective advice from his attorney to not testify during the criminal trial and saying that he believed the move could have changed the jury’s verdict. Judge Carter denied the request, ruling that an attorney would not be able to restrain a client from testifying.
Defense attorney Leonard Levine said he was disappointed in the court’s decision to give his client more than 10 years, the publication reported. He said Heaps will appeal the court’s decision. Levine also said that Heaps was remorseful for his inappropriate actions but “he has adamantly denied any of the criminal offenses.”
Meanwhile, attorneys Jennifer McGrath and Darren Kavinoky, who represented the victims in a civil lawsuit against UCLA, said Heaps’ sentencing was a message to other victims. “Please pay attention to this day,” they said.