Accused Delaware pediatrician waives hearing

Doctor accused of abusing patients waives a preliminary hearing in the Court of Common Pleas.

Dr. Earl Bradley has waived a preliminary hearing in the Court of Common Pleas.  Bradley had been expected to appear in a Georgetown courtroom on sexual abuse charges.  Attorney Paul Kania appeared on behalf of Bradley’s lawyer Gene Maurer.  Kania says the defense was willing to waive the pretrial hearing in exchange for a meeting with prosecutors and detectives this week to talk about evidence in the case.  “Waving the hearing was done for the purpose to learn as much as we could as early as we can.”

Kania met with Bradley for about an hour before the hearing.  He says, “The allegations from the state don’t depict signs of a well person, to me there are obvious mental concerns.  He’s a very depressed man.”

Bradley is accused of abusing multiple patients at his Lewes office, some as young as just a few months old.  He’s being held on nearly $3 million bail.

On Wednesday, Governor Jack Markell launched an independent probe into Delaware’s policies and procedures for reporting child abuse.  That review will be led by Widener Law School Dean Linda Ammons.  The review team should have a report on how the state can better protect children ready for the governor and state lawmakers before the legislative session ends on June 30.