UCLA Gynecologist Pleads Guilty, Sentenced to 11 Years

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Former UCLA gynecologist James Heaps pleaded guilty to 13 felony sexual abuse charges and was sentenced to 11 years in prison, avoiding a new trial after his previous conviction was overturned due to juror issues. This case follows allegations from five victims spanning nearly a decade and highlights the severe consequences of his misconduct, which led UCLA to pay nearly $700 million in settlements to affected patients.

A former UCLA gynecologist has pleaded guilty to multiple felony sexual abuse charges and received an 11-year prison sentence. James Heaps, who had previously been convicted in 2023 of sexual battery and penetration involving two patients, faced an overturned conviction earlier this year after an appeals court found that he was denied a fair trial. The court ruled that a juror’s language proficiency issues, noted in a confidential juror foreman’s message, had not been properly disclosed to his defense attorneys.

Following the February decision to overturn the conviction, Heaps avoided a new trial by entering a guilty plea to 13 felony counts involving five victims. The charges stem from allegations of sexual abuse spanning nearly a decade, from 2009 to 2018. Alongside the prison sentence, Heaps was ordered to register as a sex offender for life.

Heaps’s legal troubles first came to light in 2019, when he was accused of sexually assaulting several patients during his tenure as a UCLA campus gynecologist. He was indicted in 2021 on charges including sexual battery by fraud, sexual exploitation of a patient, and sexual penetration of an unconscious person by fraudulent representation. The complaints involved seven women and detailed acts ranging from inappropriate touching and suggestive remarks to unnecessary invasive examinations.

The scandal prompted UCLA to settle lawsuits brought by hundreds of Heaps’s patients for nearly $700 million, a record payout for a public university in cases involving sexual misconduct by campus medical professionals. Many former patients described enduring repeated abuse during Heaps’s 35-year career at the university.

John Manly, an attorney representing more than 200 of the affected patients, said the guilty plea and sentence underscore the serious consequences for those who violate patients’ rights and dignity.

Heaps’s defense attorney previously expressed confidence in his client’s innocence following the overturned conviction, asserting hopes for full exoneration, but did not immediately comment on the decision to plead guilty.