A federal judge has preliminarily approved a $73 million class action settlement involving sexual abuse claims against a former gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California approved the settlement, which resolves claims for a potential 6,600 class members that Dr. James Heaps either made inappropriate comments or violated them with sexually invasive exams from 1983 to 2018. Heaps pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of sexual battery.