Pediatrician Earl Bradley Charged With Molestation of 103 Children

Feb. 23, 2010 — -- A popular Delaware pediatrician has been indicted by a grand jury that charged him with the molestation of 103 children.

Dr. Earl Bradley, 56, has been held in the Vaughn Correctional Center on a $2.9 million cash bond following his arrest last December. Bradley was initially charged with 33 felony counts, including rape and sexual exploitation of a child, but the number of victims has now more than tripled.

The accusations, in an indictment handed down Monday, stem from incidents that allegedly took place at his Lewes, Del., practice called BayBees Pediatrics where he is accused of videotaping the sex acts while the children's parents waited in another room.

If convicted, Bradley faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"I cannot say certain things that I am feeling, and I am feeling a great deal. I am determined to see that this defendant will never, ever be in a position again to hurt another child," Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden said in a statement following the indictment.

The 160-page indictment describes in detail Bradley's alleged behavior between 1998 and 2009. Of the 103 children mentioned in the indictment, only one of them was male.

Among the 471-count indictment includes allegations that Bradley forced children to perform sex acts on him as recently as Dec. 13.

Some of the children were allegedly molested continuously over a series of days or months. One victim was allegedly raped by Bradley from June 2007 until February 2009, and another was molested "continuously" between November 2008 until November 2009.

A search of Bradley's medical practice late last year lead to the analysis of more than 13 hours of video files, computers and hard drives and more than 7,000 patient files.

Biden told ABCNews.com at the time of Bradley's arrest that "this is a very very troubling case, and we here in the state of Delaware are pursuing it aggressively to the fullest extent of the law."

"The thing that makes this case so troubling and horrific is the alleged abuse of trust in this matter," said Biden. "These are highly specialized cases where no one in the community could believe someone could do this to a child, to a child who is voiceless."

Biden said that some of the alleged victims were just months old.

The attorney representing Bradley, Eugene Maurer, did not immediately return messages left by ABCNews.com.

Pediatrician Earl Bradley Accused of Sexually Abusing More Than 100 Patients

According to court documents obtained by ABCNews.com, the investigation was spurred after a 2-year-old girl told her mother that Bradley had touched her genitals and "hurt her" during a Dec. 7 appointment.

According to the child's mother, who is not named in the court documents, Bradley first examined the toddler in her presence, but then "removed the victim to the basement of the office, where a toy room is located."

The mother told authorities that she permitted her daughter to be alone with Bradley "because of his position as a doctor" and because she "trusted him."

But on the way home from the doctor the mother alleges that her daughter said Bradley had sexually abused her while they were alone in the basement. The girl's father, who had taken to her to a previous appointment with Bradley, also told authorities his daughter had made a similar complaint to him in November.

In 160 pages of disturbing court documents, Bradley is accused of videotaping sexual acts with his young patients and molesting them repeatedly while their parents waited in nearby examination rooms.

Bradley, who had been in the 1,300-person town of Lewes since 1994, is accused of abusing his patients for the past 11 years.

According to the arrest documents, the examination room known as the Pinocchio Room because of its decorations was seen frequently on the video tapes obtained by authorities that reportedly show Bradley undressing his patients and performing sex acts on them.

In another room decked out with "The Little Mermaid" paraphernalia, equally horrific abuse allegedly occurred at the hands of Bradley, who investigators said was seen on the tapes muzzling screaming children as they tried to flee the abuse.

Described as a 6-foot, 225-pound man, Bradley allegedly had a "violently enraged expression on his face" as he yelled to a 2-year-old patient to perform sexual acts on him. That particular video was described by the investigating officer in court documents as "one of the most violent and brutal attacks on a child of any age" that he had ever seen.

Pediatrician Earl Bradley Accused to Repeatedly Molesting Children

Late last week, Biden ordered the Delaware Department of Justice to remove all the signs and toys, which Bradley's practice was known for, from the front lawn of the pediatric office.

"The community should not be faced with the visual reminder of their pain as they go about their daily lives," l Biden said. "We hope that removing these outward displays promoting Dr. Bradley's practice, including toys, figurines, vehicles, a lighted sign and billboard is a small step in helping the Lewes community begin the healing process."

Bradley's attorney had agreed to the removal of the items.

The removal and storage of items from the Baybees property was completed today. The attorney general initiated this action with the agreement of Bradley's legal counsel.