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U.S. doctor guilty in child molestation case

DOVER: A Delaware grand jury returned a sweeping indictment on Monday against a paediatrician accused of serial molestation in what could be one of the worst child sex abuse cases in U.S. history.

The 160-page indictment returned by a grand jury charges Dr. Earl Bradley of Lewes with 471 counts of sexual crimes against 103 children.

Attorney-General Beau Biden said all of the alleged victims, including one boy, were caught on more than 13 hours of video recordings, some dating to 1998, that were seized from Bradley's office and home.

“The charges in this indictment are unique in the history of the state of Delaware, as far as I can tell,” he said.

“These were crimes committed against the most vulnerable among us — those without voices,” said Mr. Biden as tears welled in his eyes and he paused to collect himself.

Mr. Biden said that while there have been other cases around the country involving multiple victims, “I know of no other that has this many victims.”

The charges against Bradley include rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact, continuous sexual abuse of a child, assault and reckless endangering. Bradley, who was arrested in December and initially charged with 29 felony counts for allegedly abusing nine children, is being held with bail set at $2.9 million. His medical license was permanently revoked by the state Board of Medical Practice last week.

Bradley's attorney, Eugene Maurer, said he had not read the indictment but was not surprised by the allegations.

Many victims were assaulted repeatedly, some on consecutive days, according to the indictment, which alleges that one girl was raped more than a dozen times over a period that lasted more than a year. — AP

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