28 April 2023 , 10:18
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A gynaecologist has finally been jailed after hundreds of women accused him of sexually abusing them during his career.
James Heaps, a retired UCLA gynaecologist, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison after being found guilty of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of two patients.
Heaps was charged with 21 felony counts but was found not guilty of seven other counts, including one of sexual exploitation.
The assaults took place from 2013 to 2017 and the University of California has agreed to pay nearly $700million to settle lawsuits brought by hundreds of Heaps' alleged victims.
After his sentence, Heaps will be required to register as a sex offender.
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Ellen Carter, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said after the sentencing: "For four years we have been fighting. Today we finally have a reason to smile.
The disgraced UCLA gynaecologist was sentenced to more than a decade behind bars (FOX 11 Los Angeles)"I hope that the settlement by UCLA and today’s sentencing will encourage any victims of sexual assault to come forward."
Another victim said in a written statement that was read in court before the sentencing that she still suffers extreme anxiety and no longer trusts male doctors because of the sexual abuse by Heaps, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Another of the women Heaps was found guilty of abuse of said she gave birth to three daughters at the UCLA medical facility where Heaps worked.
"I was proud to be a patient there. It has been absolutely ruined," she said, adding that "the defendant has made the place where my babies were born a traumatising trigger."
Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers said that Heaps sexually abused his patients out of arrogance because he thought he could get away with it.
She also took issue with the defence attorney's claims that Heaps should be given a lower-end sentence and said, "What the defendant did in this case was wrong. These victims suffered this wrong."
A lawsuit previously alleged that hundreds of women were sexually abused by Heaps (AP)The defendant's lawyers argued that James Heaps had an extensive career as an oncologist and gynaecologist who had done a lot of good in his life and that the sexual abuse he was convicted of should be considered a blip in his career.
They also asked for a lower-end sentence and for the court to consider that he did not testify during the criminal trial due to ineffective advice from his attorney, which they claimed could have changed the jury's verdict.
Heaps appeared in court in an orange prison jumpsuit, a neat goatee, and glasses. He did not testify or make any statements after he was sentenced.
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During the trial, he repeatedly wrote notes to his defence team and anxiously fidgeted in his chair.