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Delaware Pediatrician Is Accused of Raping Patients
December 23, 2009
For more than a decade, Dr. Earl B. Bradley was a trusted fixture of the small coastal town of Lewes, Del., seeing thousands of children at a private practice he called BayBees Pediatrics.
On Wednesday, an official from the state attorney general’s office said that Dr. Bradley might have raped or molested as many as 100 children over the last 11 years, and the police scrambled to identify victims seen on videos that they say the doctor made of the assaults. They also began contacting law enforcement agencies in Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where they believe the doctor may have also seen patients.
Last week, Dr. Bradley, 56, was charged with molesting or raping at least seven patients, including some infants. A court hearing in the case was canceled Wednesday because Dr. Bradley had been placed on suicide watch.
“We are acting as quickly as possible,†the attorney general, Joseph R. Biden III, said Wednesday at a news conference.
Mr. Biden said his office would “use every resource necessary to continue to conduct a methodical and deliberate investigation.â€
Dr. Bradley has been charged with 33 felony counts of first- and second-degree rape, sexual exploitation of a child by photo or film, and endangering the welfare of a child, said Paula T. Ryan, the chief prosecutor in Sussex County.
“The accusations are awful,†said Dr. Bradley’s lawyer, Eugene J. Maurer Jr. “But they are still just accusations.â€
Mr. Maurer added that while he had not had enough time to study the case, he suspected that Dr. Bradley had severe mental health issues.
The police said they had received multiple complaints about the doctor roughly a year ago. “We investigated as far as we could, but there wasn’t enough evidence to go forward with charges,†said Sgt. Walter Newton, a Delaware State Police spokesman.
Though most of the victims remained unidentified, the police said one was a 2-year-old girl who was interviewed after her mother said Dr. Bradley had touched the girl’s genitals.
The police arrested Dr. Bradley on Dec. 16 after the girl’s parents complained. Dr. Bradley was released for one night while the police sought search warrants for his office and home. After obtaining those warrants and conducting the searches, he was arrested again on Friday, Ms. Ryan said.
Court documents say that during those searches, the police seized at least six cameras, 100 DVDs and VHS tapes, dozens of reel-to-reel films and a small computer data storage device that contained videos of multiple forced sexual acts with child patients — including intercourse, oral sex and fondling.
Several of the videos, court documents say, show the doctor, in blue scrubs, yelling orders at the toddlers, some of whom are crying or trying to run away. In one video, Dr. Bradley has a “violently enraged†expression on his face, the court papers say.
Dr. Bradley is being held on $2.9 million bond at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Facility in Smyrna, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan 14.
The police said that they did not know whether Dr. Bradley had practiced in Florida or New Jersey, where he has held medical licenses, or in Pennsylvania, where he attended medical school and did his residency. But they said they were notifying those states of his arrest.
The improper contact between Dr. Bradley and the 2-year-old girl took place during a Dec. 7 visit to his office, according to court records. Afterward, the child told her mother that when Dr. Bradley took her to a basement with toys and candy, he had “hurt†her private area.
The girl’s father later said the child made a similar complaint after an October office visit. Following the complaint from her parents, the girl was interviewed Dec. 9 at a Children’s Advocacy Center, where medical officials concluded that there was evidence of trauma consistent with sexual contact, according to court papers.
The papers describe one video in which Dr. Bradley abuses a patient who tried twice to run away.
They also describe the reaction of one veteran detective. “Detective describes this as one of the most violent and brutal attacks on a child of any age that he has seencaptured on video,†the court papers said.
December 23, 2009
For more than a decade, Dr. Earl B. Bradley was a trusted fixture of the small coastal town of Lewes, Del., seeing thousands of children at a private practice he called BayBees Pediatrics.
On Wednesday, an official from the state attorney general’s office said that Dr. Bradley might have raped or molested as many as 100 children over the last 11 years, and the police scrambled to identify victims seen on videos that they say the doctor made of the assaults. They also began contacting law enforcement agencies in Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where they believe the doctor may have also seen patients.
Last week, Dr. Bradley, 56, was charged with molesting or raping at least seven patients, including some infants. A court hearing in the case was canceled Wednesday because Dr. Bradley had been placed on suicide watch.
“We are acting as quickly as possible,†the attorney general, Joseph R. Biden III, said Wednesday at a news conference.
Mr. Biden said his office would “use every resource necessary to continue to conduct a methodical and deliberate investigation.â€
Dr. Bradley has been charged with 33 felony counts of first- and second-degree rape, sexual exploitation of a child by photo or film, and endangering the welfare of a child, said Paula T. Ryan, the chief prosecutor in Sussex County.
“The accusations are awful,†said Dr. Bradley’s lawyer, Eugene J. Maurer Jr. “But they are still just accusations.â€
Mr. Maurer added that while he had not had enough time to study the case, he suspected that Dr. Bradley had severe mental health issues.
The police said they had received multiple complaints about the doctor roughly a year ago. “We investigated as far as we could, but there wasn’t enough evidence to go forward with charges,†said Sgt. Walter Newton, a Delaware State Police spokesman.
Though most of the victims remained unidentified, the police said one was a 2-year-old girl who was interviewed after her mother said Dr. Bradley had touched the girl’s genitals.
The police arrested Dr. Bradley on Dec. 16 after the girl’s parents complained. Dr. Bradley was released for one night while the police sought search warrants for his office and home. After obtaining those warrants and conducting the searches, he was arrested again on Friday, Ms. Ryan said.
Court documents say that during those searches, the police seized at least six cameras, 100 DVDs and VHS tapes, dozens of reel-to-reel films and a small computer data storage device that contained videos of multiple forced sexual acts with child patients — including intercourse, oral sex and fondling.
Several of the videos, court documents say, show the doctor, in blue scrubs, yelling orders at the toddlers, some of whom are crying or trying to run away. In one video, Dr. Bradley has a “violently enraged†expression on his face, the court papers say.
Dr. Bradley is being held on $2.9 million bond at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Facility in Smyrna, pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan 14.
The police said that they did not know whether Dr. Bradley had practiced in Florida or New Jersey, where he has held medical licenses, or in Pennsylvania, where he attended medical school and did his residency. But they said they were notifying those states of his arrest.
The improper contact between Dr. Bradley and the 2-year-old girl took place during a Dec. 7 visit to his office, according to court records. Afterward, the child told her mother that when Dr. Bradley took her to a basement with toys and candy, he had “hurt†her private area.
The girl’s father later said the child made a similar complaint after an October office visit. Following the complaint from her parents, the girl was interviewed Dec. 9 at a Children’s Advocacy Center, where medical officials concluded that there was evidence of trauma consistent with sexual contact, according to court papers.
The papers describe one video in which Dr. Bradley abuses a patient who tried twice to run away.
They also describe the reaction of one veteran detective. “Detective describes this as one of the most violent and brutal attacks on a child of any age that he has seencaptured on video,†the court papers said.
