Alleged Predator Pediatrician, Earl Bradley, Pleads Not Guilty to 471 Counts of Sexual Abuse
GEORGETOWN, Del. (CBS/AP) Earl Bradley stood silently as his public defenders entered a plea of not guilty to 471 counts including charges of rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact, continuous sexual abuse of a child, assault, and reckless endangering.
The mothers of two of Bradley's 103 alleged victims sat sobbing in the court room, there among the more than 40 spectators that attended the hearing. Resident Judge T. Henley Graves increased Bradley's bail from $2.9 million cash to $4.71 million - $10,000 on each of the 471 counts detailed in February's grand jury indictment.
Bradley is accused of repeatedly raping and abusing his patients, 102 girls and one boy, some as young as three months, over the span of more than ten years, beginning in December 1998. Police say that Bradley videotaped many of his "sessions" which included forcing children as young as three months old to engage in intercourse and oral sex, the Delaware News Journal reported.
At least five of the girls appeared to lose consciousness and stop breathing, according to the indictment.
Bradley was arrested in December 2009 after a 2-year-old girl told her mother that the doctor hurt her in December when he took her to a basement room of his Lewes office after an exam.
But reports of suspected abuse were filed as early as 2005 when a mother reported that her daughter asked her "why did Dr. Bradley kiss [her] tongue" and again in 2008 when another parent reported inappropriate vaginal exams. Both times prosecutors and judges refused to pursue the case citing insufficient evidence to issue search warrants.
Finally, after the December 2009 report authorities were able to convince a judge to sign arrest and search warrants. The indictment estimates that in that year time lapse between the 2008 denial and the 2009 arrest warrant at least 47 new children were abused, some repeatedly.
The judge scheduled a status conference in the case for May 17.
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