A former UCLA gynecologist at the center of a sexual misconduct scandal pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexual abuse charges, bringing his case to a new phase after an appeals court overturned his earlier conviction. Prosecutors said James Heaps admitted guilt to 13 felony counts and will face 11 years in prison, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office and court proceedings described by the Associated Press.
The plea followed a major shift earlier this year when an appeals court threw out Heaps’ conviction. In February, the appeals court ruled that Heaps was denied a fair trial because the judge did not provide his attorneys with a note from the jury’s foreman that raised concerns about a juror’s English proficiency, AP reported.
At Tuesday’s plea, prosecutors described Heaps as a 69-year-old who pleaded guilty to six felony counts involving sexually abusing an unconscious person. He also pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual exploitation of a patient, LA County prosecutors said, with the guilty plea changing the posture of a prosecution that had spanned years.
Nicole Gumpert, who identified herself as one of Heaps’ victims, addressed reporters at a news conference and said there were many women involved in the case and that they refused to be silent. AP reported that Gumpert made the statement in the wake of the guilty plea, which came as survivors and prosecutors sought to move the litigation forward after the prior conviction was overturned. MSI previously reported that a court overturned Heaps’ sex-abuse conviction and ordered a retrial.
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the guilty plea was a significant milestone for the seven-year case. AP reported Hochman also characterized the proceeding as one in which Heaps had attempted to delay proceedings and discredit survivors who testified against him, while prosecutors emphasized that the admissions and sentence reflected accountability for the alleged harm.
Heaps’ attorney, Leonard Levine, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the guilty plea, AP reported. The AP report also noted that Heaps had been originally sentenced in 2023 to 11 years in prison after being convicted of five counts of sexual battery and penetration involving two patients he saw while affiliated with the university. That conviction was later overturned by the appellate court, which set the stage for the guilty plea that prosecutors and victims described as moving the case toward finality.
The allegations in the case date back to when prosecutors said the indicted conduct involved sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. AP reported that Heaps was indicted in 2021 on multiple counts including sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient, and sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation, stemming from what prosecutors described as a pattern involving patients seen during his UCLA career.
Following the 2019 scandal that emerged after Heaps’ arrest, UCLA agreed to pay nearly $700 million in settlement terms to hundreds of Heaps’ former patients, a record amount by a public university in the category of misconduct settlements, AP reported. AP also reported that patients alleged 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 the guilty plea and sentence send a clear message that there will be severe consequences for violations of patients’ rights and dignity, AP reported.
The guilty plea on Tuesday closes a chapter opened by the appellate ruling earlier this year, while keeping focus on the survivors who said they were left to pursue accountability through years of court proceedings.