LOS ANGELES – On August 3, 2020 the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced that an obstetrician-gynecologist formerly employed by the University of California, Los Angeles now faces a total of 20 felony counts charging him with sexually assaulting seven patients.
Deputy District Attorney Morgan Mallory said James Mason Heaps, 63, of Woodland Hills was charged last year with two counts of sexual battery by fraud and one count of sexual exploitation of patients.
On August 3, the case was amended to include eight additional counts of sexual battery by fraud, two additional counts of sexual exploitation of a patient as well as seven counts of sexual penetration of a person unconscious of the nature of the act by fraudulent representation.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the added charges and is scheduled to return to court on September 15th.Heaps is charged with sexual assaults dating back to 2011 and up to 2018, according to the criminal complaint. Bail is set at $650,000. If convicted as charged, the defendant faces a possible maximum sentence of more than 67 years in state prison.
The case remains under investigation by the California Department of Consumer Affairs.
“The citizens of California don’t often give thought to the state investigators within the California Department of Consumer Affairs and the work they do to protect all of us as we go about our daily lives,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “These public safety and consumer protection professionals protect us by investigating those posing harm to consumers, in this case, patients.”
