A doctor who claims he earned the moniker “Hockey Doc” after spending more than 20 years treating young hockey teams in Minnesota and Michigan will go on trial for allegedly sexually abusing patients.
Dr. Zvi Levran, 66, appears in the court of Judge James Brady on charges of criminal sexual conduct at the 47th District Court in Farmington Hills, Mich., on April 11, 2023. (Source: Daniel Mears/Detroit News via AP)
Several Sexual Abuse Charges to Doctor
From the released report from NTD, there are 22 charges against Zvi Levran for criminal sexual conduct in the third and fourth degrees involving 10 former hockey players. He claims he did nothing wrong. His preliminary hearing in Farmington Hills District Court, close to Detroit, ended on Tuesday with several witnesses testifying that the sexual assaults happened while they were teenagers and adults. According to Judge James Brady, who noted that the victims had put a lot of trust in the doctor, each circumstance had a single objective, which was to “satisfy the defendant’s sexual desire.”
According to The Detroit News, defense attorney Jonathan Jones claimed in court that merely touching someone’s genitalia in a medical context is not illegal. The nearby Bloomfield Hills District Court has also filed accusations against Mr. Levran, 66. In Minnesota, he has not been charged. He was detained in October and charged with numerous counts of criminal sexual behavior in November in connection with several patients who informed police that their examinations had anything to do with minor hockey.
Later, after police received 33 more tips about the urologist from residents of other communities in the Detroit area as well as from people in California, Georgia, North Carolina, Minnesota, Arizona, and Canada who claim the doctor abused them while they were residents of Michigan, Mr. Levran was charged with additional counts of criminal sexual conduct.
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Sexually Abused Victims Started to Testify
Some claimants claim that Mr. Levran touched their genitalia while they were teenagers getting physicals for sports. The Detroit News stated that one man claimed he was asked to perform jumping jacks while completely naked.
Another accuser claimed that when he later saw Mr. Levran as an adult for a medical reason, Mr. Levran observed him urinate while sticking an ungloved finger in his rectum. In a statement released on Tuesday, Karen McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor whose office is in charge of the cases in Farmington Hills and Bloomfield Hills, praised the witnesses who testified against Mr. Levran. She remarked, “I hope their bravery will encourage others to come forward.” For the cases in either community, which may eventually be consolidated, no trial date has been scheduled.
On a webpage advertising his medical business, Mr. Levran claims that he spent time working with high school hockey teams in Minnesota and Michigan. In addition, the website claims that Mr. Levran works with numerous teams to “help condition players to avoid sports-related injuries” and that his involvement with high school hockey teams earned him the moniker “Hockey Doc.”
Larry Nassar, a former sports physician at Michigan State University, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison in 2018 after admitting to sexually assaulting some of the best gymnasts in the country for years while pretending to treat them medically. He was charged with assaulting hundreds of women and girls sexually.
Former University of Michigan players, students, and others have said that Robert Anderson, the institution’s sports physician, assaulted them. Anderson served as the campus health service director and as a doctor for several teams, including the football team. After over 40 years of service to the university, he passed away in 2008.
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