An obstetrician-gynecologist who labored for years on the College of California, Los Angeles, was convicted on Thursday of sexually abusing sufferers in a case that value the college tons of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in settlements and got here amid comparable accusations in opposition to docs at different universities.

Jurors in California Superior Courtroom in Los Angeles County discovered the physician, James Heaps, 65, responsible of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious particular person, in line with the Los Angeles County District Legal professional’s Workplace.

Dr. Heaps faces as much as 21 years in jail at his sentencing listening to, scheduled for Nov. 17, in line with the workplace. U.C.L.A. has already paid about $700 million to settle claims of sexual misconduct in opposition to Dr. Heaps, who was affiliated with the college in varied roles from 1983 to 2018.

He was initially charged in 2019, and was indicted final 12 months on 21 counts of sexual misconduct from 2009 to 2018.

On Thursday, Dr. Heaps was acquitted on seven of the counts — three counts of sexual battery by fraud, three counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious particular person and one rely of sexual exploitation of a affected person, the district legal professional’s workplace stated.

Jurors couldn’t attain a unanimous verdict on 9 counts — three counts of sexual battery by fraud, 4 counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious particular person and two counts of sexual exploitation of a affected person, the workplace stated.

In an announcement, George Gascón, the Los Angeles County district legal professional, thanked jurors “for bringing some measure of accountability to Dr. Heaps.”

“Whereas we respect the jurors’ selections on the acquitted counts, we’re clearly upset,” he stated in an announcement. “I understand how difficult such trials could be for all concerned and the private sacrifices which might be made in order that justice is served.”

The district legal professional’s workplace stated it had not decided on whether or not to retry Dr. Heaps on the fees that resulted in a hung jury. Mr. Gascón stated, “The trauma Dr. Heaps inflicted on the very folks he had sworn to look after is immeasurable.”

John Manly, who represented greater than 200 ladies in civil lawsuits in opposition to Dr. Heaps and U.C.L.A., stated in an announcement that the physician’s guilt “has been firmly established.”

“The horrible abuse he perpetrated on most cancers sufferers and others who trusted him as their physician has been uncovered and justice was carried out,” Mr. Manly stated in an announcement. He added, “This was made doable as a result of our shoppers and different courageous ladies had the braveness to relive their painful abuse in interviews with regulation enforcement and as witnesses in court docket.”

Dr. Heaps’s lawyer, Leonard Levine, didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Thursday.

Mr. Levine had stated that the exams that Dr. Heaps carried out had been applicable and had been carried out with feminine workers members current, in line with The Los Angeles Instances. He stated that Dr. Heaps had been “painted as a monster within the press” when he was truly saving lives.

Dr. Heaps confronted allegations that he had used a painful vaginal examination approach, inappropriately touched ladies throughout exams, unnecessarily touched a affected person’s genital piercing, groped sufferers’ breasts throughout breast exams, and made inappropriate sexual feedback to sufferers and workers, in line with a Could 2020 U.C.L.A. particular committee report that reviewed accusations of sexual misconduct in scientific settings.

“U.C.L.A. Well being is grateful for the sufferers who got here ahead,” it stated in an announcement on Thursday. “Sexual misconduct of any variety is reprehensible and insupportable. Our overriding precedence is offering the very best high quality care whereas making certain that sufferers really feel protected, protected and revered.”

Dr. Heaps had labored on a part-time foundation on the U.C.L.A. scholar well being heart from roughly 1983 to 2010, was employed by U.C.L.A. Well being in 2014 and held medical workers privileges on the Ronald Reagan U.C.L.A. Medical Heart from 1988 to 2018, in line with the college.

In 2018, in response to allegations of sexual misconduct in opposition to Dr. Heaps, U.C.L.A. eliminated him from scientific apply, knowledgeable him that his employment was being terminated (after which he introduced he was retiring) and reported him to the Medical Board of California and regulation enforcement, the college stated.

In February, the college agreed to pay $243 million to settle the claims of 203 ladies who accused Dr. Heaps of sexual misconduct. That settlement got here on prime of a $73 million settlement made public in November 2020 that resolved a class-action swimsuit that concerned greater than 5,000 individuals who had been sufferers of Dr. Heaps for the reason that Eighties.

Settlements disclosed in Could totaled $374 million to resolve lawsuits involving 312 ladies. And a subsequent settlement resulted in a $26 million cost to settle 33 particular person claims, the college stated.

The accusations in opposition to Dr. Heaps got here because the #MeToo motion helped to forged a light-weight on allegations of sexual misconduct by different docs on faculty campuses.

In 2018, Michigan State College agreed to a $500 million settlement with 332 ladies and ladies who stated they had been abused by Lawrence G. Nassar, the previous U.S.A. Gymnastics and Michigan State crew physician, who was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in jail for sexual abuse.

The College of Southern California in March introduced that it might pay greater than $1.1 billion to former sufferers of Dr. George Tyndall, a campus gynecologist accused of preying sexually on tons of of sufferers in what college officers known as “the top of a painful and ugly chapter within the historical past of our college.”

In January, the College of Michigan introduced that it might pay $490 million to greater than 1,000 individuals who had accused a health care provider who labored with soccer gamers and different college students of sexual abuse. The physician, Robert E. Anderson, who died in 2008, was accused by scores of scholars of molesting them throughout bodily examinations, lots of which had been required to take part in athletic applications at Michigan.