Unacceptable.

Filed in Delaware by on January 7, 2010

On pretty much every front, really. And that is the most family friendly title I could come up with.

If you haven’t seen the NJ article this AM recounting some of the history of the despicable Dr. Bradley, then do yourself a favor. People with blood pressure issues should be forewarned. But this is a just a horror show on pretty much every front:

  • Parents have been complaining about this doctor for years — one parent cited noted that he daughter was abused in 1999
  • Doctors and others who worked with Bradley apparently knew he was a pedophile — or at least that there was something quite out of the ordinary — and it doesn’t look like they did much to report him.  (Which might be wrong, but I’m guessing from this article)
  • Police tried charging him in 2005, and AG Brady decided that they could not win such a case (!)
  • The AGs office tried getting a search warrant in 2008 for Bradley’s office which was turned down

There’s more at Chris Barrish’s great article — but the point here is that pretty much every part of the system that is supposed to protect kids from the Bradley’s of the world seemed to completely fail here.  COMPLETELY.  I can’t fathom how so many people could know about a pedophile — and one with the kind of access to kids that Bradley had — and not be able to do something about this.   I can’t fathom how so many people could know about this and just live with themselves everyday.  It is simply unconscionable and, frankly, I wonder how much of the Delaware Way contributed to this sorry state of affairs.   But it seems clear to me that plenty of people conspired to fail these children and their parents.

AG Biden and his office don’t appear to have done much to get in front of this, either, and protecting kids was supposed to be his issue.  He’ll probably do some handwaving at not damaging the case or tainting a jury pool or something, but THIS is what a systemic system failure looks like and someone needs to start talking about how this happened and how this gets fixed.  No one should be expected to settle for handwaving or excuses here.  And chemical castrating of pedophiles means jack when in fact the entire system that should be in place to get these people into courts in the first place is utterly dysfunctional.

Tags: ,

About the Author ()

"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

Comments (13)

Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed

  1. I’m disgusted.

    I think it’s very difficult to prosecute cases with children this young. However, they had a parent saying this back in 1999 and did nothing and this guy kept his medical license? Unbelievable! This guy was taping himself. It’s amazing he was allowed to continue on this long.

  2. Mark H says:

    Although I’m not happy with the whole situation, I’m curious why Beebe hospital didn’t at least do some investigating as they were aware of the allegations also.

  3. Wasn’t he dismissed from the hospital at some point? I think there were suspicions.

  4. cassandra_m says:

    I don’t think I had heard that the hospital also may have gotten a heads up too. That would be another failure in the system.

    Part of what makes me mad here is that I do know that both law enforcement and prosecutors can make life difficult for people when they choose to. They roust suspected drug dealers and other criminals in ways that range from the really thuggish to the really annoying, and it seems to me that a persistent presence in this guy’s life might have helped somebody. And that judge who wouldn’t give the AGs office a search warrant — what is up with that? Is this judge off his rocker or did the AGs office screw up the warrant app?

  5. pandora says:

    This breaks my heart, and the fact that so many people obviously knew, or strongly suspected, what was going on is frightening. Did the doctors (especially the one who referred to Bradley as a pedophile) report what they suspected to anyone?

  6. liberalgeek says:

    This is going to get much worse before it gets better. The stories floating around Sussex right now will curl your hair. And those will come out and will be published. Not by me, though.

  7. Brooke says:

    I wouldn’t wait for Beebe hospital to discipline anyone with any kind of degree. they go with the “beggars can’t be choosers’ approach to healthcare.

  8. This requires a massive independent probe. Not just to point fingers at those who failed and to assign blame along with consequence, although that’s essential, but especially to close gaps that allowed something this unconscionable to go on for so long.

    Simply put, this is one of the most sickening things I can ever recall. And it went on for at least a decade with no one, NO ONE, putting a stop to it.

  9. anon says:

    I would reserve judgment on Beau until more details come out. Imagine if he had in some way pursued Bradley and labeled him a pedophile after being denied a search warrant and without proof. With hindsight we think this might have been great, but an AG has to walk on eggshells here, for good reason.

  10. MJ says:

    The Cape Gazette has also been covering this in great detail. It is a massive failure by those (Bebee, co-workers, employees) who should have been voicing their concerns about this monster. I always thought his practice was a daycare center or mini-amusement park because of all of the stuff outside.

    That being said, we all know that the GOP is going to try and use this against Beau, even though he was not the AG in 1999 or 2005 when complaints started to roll in.

    Of course, we have Atkins already planning on introducing a chemical castration bill next week.

  11. meatball says:

    I’m not sure what the hospital could have done. As far as I know, there haven’t been any complaints of malpractice or abuse levied against him in reguards to his work there (yet), only at his personal office. The AG couln’t even get a search warrant, not sure what a small time hospital investigation would unearth. The most the hospital could have done was revoke his admitting privilages and brace for a lawsuit as there was no evidence to do so.

    “Doctors and others who worked with Bradley apparently knew he was a pedophile — or at least that there was something quite out of the ordinary — and it doesn’t look like they did much to report him. (Which might be wrong, but I’m guessing from this article)”

    This, if true, is really pathetic. The DE Board of Medical Practice NEVER received a complaint??? What more evidence do you need. I have my suspicions who witness #1 is, can’t wait to talk to him. Besides Bradley, this is who deserves the lion’s share of finger pointing.

    In closing, FWIW I just want to say that I have worked and played with much of the medical community in and around Lewes for the last 15 years and have never heard any allegations against Bradley.

  12. I just read the accompanying material to the article. I find it amazing how brazen he was. He did a vaginal exam on a girl with a sore throat. In some of the cases detailed, he did these things in front of the parents.

  13. Suzanne says:

    From what I have heard Bebee knew that the guy was up to no good and that he was not allowed on some of their units and was not to be left alone with female patients- not sure if it is true, but seems to come from someone more clued into Bebee’s doing than I am. Seems they caught him peeping or something.

    As for the parents that watched him penetrate little girls with is finger to “check her hymen” – WHAT THE FUCK WERE THEY THINKING?