The Latest: Woman claims 2008 sexual assault by UCLA doctor

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on a retired UCLA gynecologist who is charged with sexually abusing two patients (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

A Los Angeles-area woman tells The Associated Press she was sexually assaulted by a gynecologist who worked for the University of California, Los Angeles.

The woman was a graduate student and patient of Dr. James Heaps when in 2008 she says he grabbed her breast during an examination.

She told the AP on Tuesday she was angered but kept seeing Heaps and never reported it to authorities.

In 2015, she described the incident in a posting on Yelp. UCLA officials apparently saw it when the school began investigating Heaps in 2017 but never contacted the woman. She reported the incident to UCLA on Tuesday.

On Monday, UCLA announced Heaps is charged with sexual battery on two patients and encouraged others to come forward.

Heaps denies any wrongdoing.

The AP does not typically identify people who may be victims of a sex crime.

___

Associated Press reporter Stefanie Dazio.

___

10:59 p.m.

A retired gynecologist who worked at the University of California, Los Angeles for decades has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing two patients and the campus is asking anyone who may have other complaints against him to step forward.

Dr. James Heaps pleaded not guilty Monday to sexual battery by fraud against two patients in 2017 and 2018. He also pleaded not guilty to a count of sexual exploitation of a patient and was released without bail.

The patients weren’t UCLA students but were seen at Heaps’ office on the UCLA campus.

Heaps’ attorney says the allegations are baseless.

Heaps served part-time at the student health center from 1989 to 2010 and later worked at UCLA under contract. His contract wasn’t renewed in 2018 after an investigation into the sex-abuse allegations and he retired.

___

Associated Press writers John Rogers, Kathleen Ronayne and Don Thompson contributed to this story.