Psychologist Loses License for Sexual Misconduct

A Long Beach psychologist has surrendered his license to practice after acknowledging sexual misconduct with a couple he counseled, authorities said Monday.

Marvin Rofsky admitted gross negligence and acts of fraud and dishonesty after conducting a sexual relationship with a married couple he was treating for grief over the death of their infant son, said Deputy Atty. Gen. M. Gayle Askren.

Rofsky took “advantage of the trust that a husband and wife had placed in him, at a time that they were very vulnerable, to satisfy his own sexual needs,” Askren said.

The revocation of Rofsky’s license was effective Dec. 25. He cannot reapply for reinstatement until December 2001.

Rofsky admitted in April to charges brought against him before the state’s Board of Psychology, Askren said. Rofsky treated the couple from February 1992 to June 1994, according to investigators, sometimes seeing each alone, sometimes counseling them together.

Rofsky began a sexual affair with the wife, investigators alleged. He accompanied the couple on vacation, bought gifts for them and eventually engaged in sex involving all three of them, investigators said.

State investigators learned of Rofsky’s conduct when they got a call from a lawyer representing the couple in a civil action against the psychologist, Askren said.