NewsRegionOakland County

Actions

Witnesses describe graphic interactions with hockey doctor Zvi Levran

Multiple witnesses painted a pattern of behavior involving physical examinations, yoga session and massages that led to alleged assaults
Posted at 6:42 PM, Apr 11, 2023
and last updated 2023-04-11 19:32:47-04

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. (WXYZ) — The witnesses who spoke Tuesday painted a pattern of behavior: meeting Dr. Levran when he was their hockey doctor, keeping in contact over the years, participating in medical care and yoga sessions in the basement of Levran’s home that they allege eventually crossed the line.

One witness Tuesday reported a physical examination that he says turned uncomfortable when he was asked to provide a urine sample.

“It was taking me a while trying to pee because I had gone to the bathroom before I went there. So I was just kind of standing there, not peeing. And that’s when he was just, ‘I’ll hold the cup.’ And he held my penis and was like, ‘You just focus on peeing. I’ll make sure everything goes in the cup. You don’t have to worry about it,'" said the witness.

Another witness reported being in a bad place in his life and reaching out to Dr. Levran for some therapeutic yoga.

“He told me that he practices, he hosts private yoga sessions for small groups of people at his home. Only caveat being its naked yoga,” explained the witness.

He said these sessions were followed by “relaxation massages.”

“They just became kind of progressively more, like, groin oriented with that massage phase,” the witness said.

He said he was willing to put up with the weirdness of his interactions with Dr. Levran because he was trying to be open-minded. He admits he returned for repeat one-on-one naked yoga sessions in Levran’s basement.

Eventually, though, he said on the 5th or 6th, he was sexually assaulted.

The witness says he told his fiancée at the time, but no one else.

“I didn’t talk about it once. Part of it was embarrassing. Part of it definitely felt like I was to blame for looking past so many red flags. And then you know, maybe if you don’t talk about it, it didn’t happen,” said the witness.

He said that’s where it ended until he saw an ad on Instagram asking if anyone had interactions with Dr. Levran.

He said that’s when he realized, “There was a pattern here and there was other people he seemed to be targeting as well, which is why I chose to come forward.”

The court additionally heard from expert witness Dr. Palapattu with the University of Michigan, who weighed in from a medical perspective on what the witnesses report happened.

“Unethical and unacceptable,” said Palapattu.