Ex-UCLA doctor admits to sexually abusing five patients after previous conviction overturned

A former UCLA gynecologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing five of his patients during examinations, and the once-renowned cancer expert was sentenced to 11 years in state prison.

James Heaps, 70, pleaded guilty to 13 felonies, including multiple counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person, and must register as a sex offender for life.

The plea came after a three-justice panel of the California 2nd District Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for sexual abuse of two patients with three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. The court determined that the trial judge failed to inform his lawyers that some of the jurors raised questions about the English proficiency of one of the panel members and ordered a retrial.

Heaps has been in state prison since 2022, and agreed to plead guilty to charges involving not only the two women he was previously convicted of abusing, but also three women whose allegations the prior jury hung on during deliberations. At a second trial, Heaps faced the prospect of more charges and a potential conviction with a longer sentence.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Danette Meyers said Tuesday’s plea means Heaps will be eligible for parole in 2028 with time served. More than 500 lawsuits were filed against Heaps and UCLA, accusing the school of failing to protect patients after becoming aware of the misconduct. UCLA paid more $700 million to settle those lawsuits.

“Now you have finally admitted what you have done, and while your sentence falls short of the justice truly demands, your ultimate prison will endure in perpetuity a depraved legacy stripped of respect, honor, and integrity filled instead with shame,” Nicole Gumpert, one of his victims, told him and the judge at sentencing. “History will not remember you for reverence. It will remember you with contempt. Your name will carry no honor, no redemption.”

Heaps, looking gaunt and frail in an orange jail shirt and pants, showed almost no reaction as he was sentenced.

Jennifer McGrath, who represented some of those in criminal cases and hundreds more with Darren Kavinoky, said: “This case has gone on for many years…and we are gratified today to actually hear Mr. Heaps admit guilt and to know he will have to register as a sex offender for life.”

Heaps was indicted in May 2021 on charges involving the seven female patients. Two years later, he surrendered his medical license. During a more than 35-year career, he saw more than 6,000 patients and become the highest-paid physician affiliated with UCLA, according to litigation.

He was convicted in October 2022 after a lengthy and complex trial in downtown L.A. and sentenced the following April to 11 years.

But that conviction would later fall apart. During the jury deliberations, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Carter, who presided over the trial, sent a judicial assistant, Luis Corrales, into the jury room to speak to the jury about a note sent by the foreperson describing the jurors’ “collective concern” that Juror No. 15 “did not speak English sufficiently to deliberate and had already made up his mind,” the appeals panel wrote.

Juror No. 15 had been an alternate on the jury, but on Oct. 18 he replaced Juror No. 8. Only an hour later, the jury sent the note, signed by the foreperson. The note stated, “We have observed that the language barrier with Juror [No.] 15 is preventing us from properly deliberating. Juror [No.] 15 was not able to understand calls to vote guilty or not guilty, and expressed to us that his limited English interfered with his understanding of the testimony.”

The judicial assistant spoke to the jury in English and, at the request of Juror No. 15, in Spanish. “At no time did the trial judge inquire of the jury or inform trial counsel of the note’s existence,” the appeals panel said, adding that the conversations with the judicial assistant were not transcribed.

Heaps’ defense lawyer was not informed of the note or of the communications, and the trial proceeded to a verdict.

The appeals court found “the trial court’s handling of the note deprived defendant of his constitutional right to counsel at a critical stage of his trial.”

The prosecution failed to meet its burden to demonstrate, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the constitutional error was harmless, the justices concluded. As a result, the panel reversed the conviction and remanded it for a new trial.

Heaps has been serving his time at Soledad prison and will now return there to serve the rest of his 11-year sentence.

A judge set a restitution hearing for September in the case where the prosecutor said UCLA and other lawyers seek to recover legal fees incurred in the matter.

The hundreds of lawsuits alleged that UCLA actively and deliberately concealed Heaps’ sexual abuse of patients. They cited numerous prior incidents of sexual contact by female patients that were ignored by UCLA; some of those victims were cancer patients.

UCLA, in settling the lawsuits, acknowledged “that the conduct alleged to have been committed by Heaps is reprehensible and contrary to our values. We are grateful to all those who came forward, and hope this settlement is one step toward providing some level of healing for the plaintiffs involved,” the university said in a statement.

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