Former University Gynecologist James Heaps Gets 11 Years in Sex Abuse Case
Former university gynecologist at UCLA, James Heaps, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for the sex abuse his patients experienced during his tenure. David McNew/Getty Images

Former UCLA gynecologist James Heaps was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing his patients during his time at the university.

According to PEOPLE, Heaps was a faculty member at the David Geffen School of Medicine and an OB-GYN at UCLA Health from 2014 to 2018.

He had been convicted of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of two patients while being acquitted of seven others.

In a press release, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office noted that the jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict at the time of conviction on charges such as sexual battery by fraud and sexual penetration of an unconscious person.

Jurors cannot also decide on the sexual exploitation of a patient. Aside from his sentence, Heaps, now 66, was also ordered by Superior Court Judge Michael Carter on Wednesday to register as a sex offender.

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) has agreed to pay almost $700 million in payouts to Heaps' victims after the university launched an independent probe into the case.

UCLA Gynecologist James Heaps' Sentence

ABC7 reported that the original trial listed 21 counts involving seven patients. However, jurors could not reach verdicts on nine charges, and a mistrial was declared for those counts.

Heaps was accused of numerous incidents of abuse against patients over the years he practiced at the university.

He was affiliated with the university for 35 years and treated thousands of patients.

Aside from Heaps, UCLA had also faced lawsuits, wherein they were accused of failing to protect patients after it became aware of his misconduct.

The lawsuits accused the academe of actively and deliberately concealing Heaps's sexual abuse of patients and allowing the former UCLA gynecologist to have "unfettered sexual access to female patients, many of whom were cancer patients."

In a previous statement, UCLA thanked the victims for coming forward. The academia said they hoped the settlement could pave the way to "some level of healing," NBC Los Angeles reported.

Overall, UCLA's payouts due to the Heaps scandal reached more than $688 million, a landmark sum for a public university.

UCLA Gynecologist James Heaps Abuse

Some of those who complained about the former UCLA gynecologist were women frightened by cancer diagnoses and had sought his expertise as an oncologist when they experienced abuse.

Jennifer McGrath, the lawyer representing some of the victims, noted that the clients alleged that James Heaps overemphasized their risk of cancer or even suggested that he saw signs of cancer for financial gain and other opportunities for abuse, The Washington Post reported.

It was not only UCLA that faced the same scandal, with the University of Southern California agreeing to pay more than $1 billion to settle allegations against former gynecologist George Tyndall.

Tyndall was accused of abusing patients at the university's student health center for decades.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Court Sentences Former UCLA Gynecologist James Heaps to 11 Years in Prison - From KCAL News