An obstetrician-gynecologist who worked for years at the University of California, Los Angeles was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing a patient in a case that paid the university a settlement of hundreds of millions of dollars, prompting him to denounce other university doctors. It happened amid similar accusations.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, a jury in the California Superior Court of Los Angeles County found doctor James Heaps, 65, guilty of three counts of fraudulent sexual assault and two counts of sexual penetration into an unconscious person. convicted of a crime.
Dr. Heaps faces up to 21 years in prison at his sentencing hearing scheduled for Nov. 17, according to the office. UCLA has already paid nearly $700 million to settle sexual misconduct allegations against Dr. Heaps, who was with the university in various roles from 1983 until 2018.
He was first indicted in 2019 and last year was charged with 21 counts of sexual misconduct between 2009 and 2018.
On Thursday, Dr. Heaps was acquitted of seven counts.
The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on nine counts: three counts of sexual assault with fraud, four counts of sexual assault of an unconscious person, and two counts of sexual exploitation of a patient. be.
In a statement, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon thanked the jury for “bringing some accountability to Dr. Heaps.”
“While we respect the jury’s decision regarding acquittal, we are clearly disappointed,” he said in a statement. I know that personal sacrifices are made for justice to be served.”
The district attorney’s office said a jury has yet to make a decision on whether to retry Dr. Heaps on the hanging charges. Mr Gascon said:
In a statement, John Manley, who has represented more than 200 women in civil lawsuits against Dr. Heaps and UCLA, said Dr. Heaps’ guilt was “strongly established.”
“The horrific abuse he perpetrated on cancer patients and those who trusted him as their doctor has been brought to light and justice done,” Manley said in a statement. “This was made possible because our clients and other brave women had the courage to relive their harrowing abuses in interviews with law enforcement and as witnesses in court.”
Heaps’ attorney, Leonard Levine, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Levine said the tests performed by Dr. Heaps were appropriate and were performed with the presence of a female staff member. He was portrayed as a monster in the media,” he said.
Dr. Heaps has been accused of using painful vaginal examination techniques, inappropriately touching a woman during an examination, touching a patient’s genital piercing unnecessarily, touching a patient’s breasts during a breast examination, Faced allegations of making inappropriate sexual comments to employees. A 2020 UCLA Task Force report reviewed allegations of sexual misconduct in clinical settings.
“UCLA Health is grateful to the patients who have come forward,” it said in a statement Thursday. “Sexual misconduct of any kind is reprehensible and intolerable. Our top priority is to provide the highest quality care while making our patients feel safe, protected and respected.”
Dr. Heaps worked part-time at UCLA’s Student Health Center from 1983 to about 2010. University.
In 2018, following allegations of sexual misconduct against Dr. Heaps, UCLA removed Dr. Heaps from clinical practice, announced that his employment had been terminated (and subsequently announced that he was retiring), and filed a complaint with the California Medical Board and the law. reported. Enforcement, said the university.
In February, the university agreed to pay $243 million to settle claims of 203 women who accused Dr. Heaps of sexual misconduct. In addition to a $73 million settlement, we settled a class action lawsuit involving more than 5,000 people who had been Dr. Heaps’ patients since the 1980s.
Settlements disclosed in May totaled $374 million to settle lawsuits involving 312 women. A subsequent settlement paid her $26 million to settle 33 individual claims, the university said.
The charges against Dr. Heaps came because the #MeToo movement helped shed light on allegations of sexual misconduct by other doctors on college campuses.
In 2018, Michigan State University agreed to a $500 million settlement with 332 women and girls, and Lawrence G. Nassar, a former U.S. gymnastics and Michigan state team, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexual abuse. was a doctor. abuse.
The University of Southern California announced in March that it would pay more than $1.1 billion to former patients of campus obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. George Tindall. Dr. George Tyndale has been accused of sexually preying on hundreds of patients in what university officials call “the end of a painful and ugly chapter.” in the history of our university.
In January, the University of Michigan announced it would pay $490 million to more than 1,000 people who accused doctors who worked with football players and other students of sexual abuse.The doctor who died in 2008 Robert E. Anderson of The University of Michigan was accused of being sexually abused by dozens of students during a checkup that prompted him to participate in an exercise program at the University of Michigan.