Case of Dr. Rabbi Hirsch Travis, PhD

Case of Dr. Rabbi Hirsch Travis, PhD
Brooklyn, NY 
Fertility Foundation - Borough Park, NY
Monsey, NY

Rockland County rabbi was charged  with posing as a Brooklyn doctor specializing in infertility problems, and allegedly sexually abusing and assaulting a patient.

If you have more information about this case or a photograph of Hirsch Travis, please forward it to The Awareness Center.

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Table of Contents:

1986

1. Rockland Rabbi Faces Sex Charge (04/03/1986) 
2. Rabbi posed as sex doctor - Compiled from The Record's wire services  (04/03/1986) 
3. Brooklynite Held As Fake Doctor (04/03/1986)

 
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Rockland Rabbi Faces Sex Charge

Times Union (Albany, NY) - April 3, 1986

United Press International

A Rockland County rabbi was charged Wednesday with posing as a Brooklyn doctor specializing in infertility problems, and allegedly sexually abusing and assaulting a patient.

"The defendant is charged with preying on couples who wanted desperately to have children," Brooklyn District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman said, announcing the arrest of Rabbi Hirsch Travis, of Monsey.

He was charged with illegally operating the Fertility Foundation in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn. Travis also maintained a business address at 441 Foster Ave., also in Brooklyn.

The 59-year-old rabbi allegedly diagnosed one of his patients, a 21- year-old man, as having a low sperm count and treated him with prescription drugs, which resulted in the man ultimately undergoing surgery and suffering a sustained loss of sexual function because of Travis's treatment, prosecutors said.

The 23-count indictment also charges Travis with the sexual abuse of an unidentified 27-year-old female patient.

He was arrested March 26 at the Foundation offices when a female undercover investigator had scheduled a third visit to his office.

Travis, the father of six children, lives at 25 Route 306 in Monsey.

A woman who answered the phone at the address but would not identify herself said, "You are dealing with an honest man," but declined further comment.

Travis faces a maximum prison term of 5 to 15 years and fines doubling any gaine he may have made in the commission of the alleged crimes. He was free Wednesday on $25,000 bail.

Holtzman who said the investigation was continuing, asked anyone who may have been treated by Travis to get in touch with her office.

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BRIEFLY / N.J./ METRO

Rabbi posed as sex doctor - Compiled from The Record's wire services

The Record (New Jersey) - April 3, 1986

NEW YORK A Rockland County rabbi was charged yesterday with posing as a Brooklyn doctor specializing in infertility problems, and with allegedly sexually abusing and assaulting a patient.

"The defendant is charged with preying on couples who wanted desperately to have children," Brooklyn District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman said in announcing the arrest of Rabbi Hirsch Travis, of Monsey, N.Y.

The 59-year-old rabbi allegedly diagnosed one of his patients, a 21-year-old man, as having a low sperm count and treated him with prescription drugs. The treatment resulted ultimately in the man's undergoing surgery and suffering a sustained loss of sexual function because of Travis's treatment, prosecutors said.

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Brooklynite Held As Fake Doctor

New York Times - April 3, 1986

A Brooklyn man was indicted yesterday for posing as a doctor and illegally treating dozens of patients for infertility problems since November at an office in Borough Park.

The defendant was identified as 59-year-old Hirsch Travis, who, prosecutors said, operated a clinic called the Fertility Foundation at 1357 55th Street.

He also reportedly had offices at 441 Foster Avenue in Brooklyn and 25 Route 306 in Monsey, N.Y., in Rockland County.

District Attorney Elizabeth Holtzman said it was not known exactly how many patients he had treated. But, she charged, he did not possess a medical degree nor, as far as she knew, any other degrees.

Mr. Travis is listed in the phone book as a rabbi with a Ph.D. He also has a listing for a hypnosis clinic to treat personal problems.

According to the indictment, one patient sustained temporary loss of sexual function as a result of a medical procedure performed in Mr. Travis's office.

An investigator posing as a patient with fertility problems was sent to the clinic March 26, Miss Holtzman said. Mr. Travis was arrested when he attempted to give the woman medication, according to the prosecutor.

He was released on $25,000 bail and is to be arraigned April 8. He is charged with 23 counts of assault, unauthorized practice of a profession, sexual abuse, reckless endangerment and other charges.

A secretary in the office of Mr. Travis's attorney, Bernard Mazur, said the lawyer did not wish to comment on the case.

Miss Holtzman criticized the State Health Department for not protecting the public adequately.

Peter Slocum, a spokesman for the department, said his agency did not have enough manpower to stop anyone from setting up an illegitimate clinic.

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