Parents in Del. child sex abuse case face dilemma

By RANDALL CHASE (AP) – 4 days ago

LEWES, Del. — For years, Brandy Little worked as a nurse for the Delaware pediatrician accused of molesting more than 100 of his young patients. Dr. Earl Bradley treated two of her children, his four kids sometimes baby-sat hers, and her oldest daughter even spent the night at his house.

Now the mother of three — along with thousands of other parents whose kids were treated by the quiet, disheveled doctor — has been asked to provide photos of her children to see if they match images on 13 hours of video that prosecutors say Bradley took to document his alleged crimes.

But Little and other parents aren't sure they want to know.

"If something had happened, it hasn't affected them in any way," Little said of her oldest daughters, now 11 and 16, who have told her nothing happened. "I don't know what I'm going to gain from knowing that he had done something to one of my kids."

In the days since Bradley was indicted on hundreds of separate sexual abuse charges, the scandal has created a wrenching dilemma that has pitted some spouses against each other, parents against grandparents. Guilt over leaving children alone with Bradley lurks in the background for some.

Bradley, 56, is being held in lieu of $2.9 million bail and is charged with 471 separate crimes. If convicted, he could become one of the most notorious pedophiles in the nation's history. His attorney has indicated that the criminal case could center on Bradley's mental health.

The allegations have devastated the small coastal community of Lewes, where he practiced. For some families, the victim identification process has confirmed their worst fears. Others are anxiously waiting.

A Rehoboth mother of two daughters hopes the silence from authorities is a good sign.

"I don't know how I would be able to cope with that," she said. "I think it would kill me if my child were to be identified."

The Rehoboth mother, like several other parents interviewed by The Associated Press, spoke on condition that their name not be used to protect her family's privacy. The Associated Press does not usually identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

Dr. Eli Newberger, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, said deciding whether to cooperate in the identification process is a complicated issue for parents.

"The best interests of individual children are probably better served if the abuses are identified," said Newberger, former medical director of the Child Protection Program at Children's Hospital in Boston. "There is a reasonable likelihood for a lot of these children of having subsequent symptoms."

At the same, Newberger said, parents are generally the best judges of their children and that deserves respect.

"If parents are not worried and say they don't see any perturbation in their children's behavior," he said. "... then I think that's probably not a sign that these particular kids are foredoomed to trouble."

Patricia Dailey Lewis, a deputy attorney general and director of the Family Division in the state Department of Justice, said repressed memories can come back to haunt victims who may not have any symptoms of abuse now.

"We can't just see pictures of children being molested and ignore it because their parents don't want to participate," she said, noting that free counseling and other services are available to families once victims are identified.
 
The disturbing images of Bradley's alleged assaults were captured by cameras he set up in various rooms, which he decorated with Disney characters and stockpiled with toys and miniature carnival rides. Bradley spent much of his time and money on toys and amusement items that cluttered his offices.

"He was very easy to work with and for, and I never had any bad feelings or bad vibes," said Little, who left Bradley's practice in 2004. "He was just not a businessman. He could not run a business, and that's one reason I left.

"I wasn't into the whole carnival stuff; it was definitely over the top," she added. "Some people thought it was the greatest thing in the world... Some people thought it was weird."

A statue of Mickey Mouse sits abandoned in a front room of Bradley's shuttered office, where cameras can still be seen through the upstairs windows and on the boarded-up carousel near the front door. The property, like that of his run-down home, is strewn with junk, including rusting Volkswagen Beetles and amusement rides. Coin-operated Buzz Lightyear rides are stuffed inside a trailer, one with a sticker warning "Do Not Leave Child Unattended."

Prosecutors said some of Bradley's victims were sexually assaulted after he separated them from his parents during office visits. Others had unnecessary "exams" caught on videotape in the presence of their unsuspecting parents.

"I am very afraid that if we don't get people the help they need, we're going to see marriages crumble, we're going to see families crumble," Dailey Lewis said. "... Blaming yourself is not going to help your child. It's not going to help your family."
 

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. 

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If I ever came across Brandy Little, there's a 99% chance I'm leaving that spot being taken away by the cops and charged for assault. 

Clearly Brandy Little thinks including her name in this article would gain her some notoriety and she's right, but not for the reasons she thinks. You see, if anyone even remembers Brandy Little, it's because she's the SECOND BIGGEST FUCKING MORON INVOLVED IN THIS HORROR, the first being the sex offender himself. She reminds me of another moron I've had the displeasure of speaking to, and that would be Mitch's mom, who after I recounted the story of my own sexual abuse, tells me, with vacant eyes and a vapid smile on her face: "This kind of thing doesn't really happen around here, up here in Canada!" 

A split second after she said that I realized that I was sitting across someone's whose ignorance could one day prove to be a huge danger to my child.

Brandy Little reminds me of the kind of bitches who have children just for the purpose of adopting a lifestyle. I speak of course to that type of women who make pregnancy and parenthood all about them (because having babies is about the baby shower, what type of carriage you have). Oh, I'm a mom now, I'm gonna be into cloth-diapering, attachment parenting, baby wearing, extended breastfeeding and non-vaccination 'cause I'm such a fucking hippie...

LORD FORBID SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED TO YOUR CHILD DUE TO YOUR IGNORANCE AND NEGLIGENCE!!!YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE RESULTS OF YOU INCOMPETENCE??? THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU, IT'S ABOUT THE CHILD YOU FUCKING FAILED!

If something had happened, it hasn't affected them in any way... "I don't know how I would be able to cope with that," she said. "I think it would kill me if my child were to be identified."


I read that and I paused...and thought: 'are you fucking kidding me?

Is this FOR real?'

In contrast to these self-absorbed bitches' comments, here's an excerpt from another article that just broke my heart (what's left of it):

Source:
Town reflects on clues about how doctor abused its kids
By Steve Hendrix

The Washington post

For victims and their parents, it might be years before recriminations give way to healing. The 7-year-old's parents said it was impossible to shield their daughter from talk of the case, which has saturated local media and sidewalk gossip. It adds to their agony when bloggers, strangers and even friends who don't know their involvement blame parents for being careless guardians.

The father recently had to hold his tongue when he was in front of two chattering strangers in line at Dick's Sporting Goods, both of them heaping blame on "those kids' parents."

"I wanted to turn around and say, 'If that monster could fool me, he could fool you,' " the father said, tears in his eyes. "You hear that stuff, it's like an arrow in your heart."

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And I agree with him. The pedophile (I won't call him a pediatrician or even a doctor. He's a Shame to those who are going to have to treat his victims and try to repair both the physical and emotional damage he's done to those babies ) took an oath he forsworn in the worst way. These parents trusted a man in his position because that's what you are taught, that a doctor would never harm a patient. He can't. HE TOOK AN OATH (which makes me think that in the mind of some people, it's akin to magic, and an Avada Kedavra promptly does away with anyone who breaks it).

They should have been more careful and now, it's their duty to make sure they protect their children appropriately from now on and make sure they get the help they need. 

Because I didn't. When I first told someone no one believed me and after that I didn't tell anyone, everyone saw a happy child, oh they would tell you about how happy a child I was. But they don't understand that when something that traumatic happens children put it away in a special little compartment in the back of their head and it sits there...waiting...until teenage hood shows up (in my case). My first suicide attempt was at the age of nine. Then eleven. I stopped being a happy child and became a very troubled teenager. I ended up in a psych ward. It took a lot of years talking to professionals and compassionate people to get me to where I am capable of being outspoken about this subject. 

And It's not going to go away if you pretend that it didn't happen, and if you do nothing about it, if you do not help those children, know a lot of times, pedophiles themselves were molested as children. It's a vicious cycle and nothing is being done to break it. These parents' reaction is part of the reason why.

So Brandy Little, if you think you've dodged a bullet...I hope and pray, for your children's sake, that they were not harmed by this monster. Because if they were, I think you are very ill-equipped to help them.

Last, but not least, THERE IS NO WAY this guy had a whole town fooled for 10 years. Someone said something, a kid spoke, maybe more. But they didn't believe him/her. Trust. That. Because if there's a constant about child sex abuse stories, it's the shocking number of ostriches (won't call them adults) surrounding that poor child, who wouldn't believe him/her, who told him/her they were a liar, who even threatened or physically harmed that child in order to stop him/her from spreading 'lies'.


That's the world we live in. Pedophiles are protected by these people, because they would rather believe the word of a fellow adult, friend, close relative, than the poor child who amassed all the courage in the world to ask for help. 

And nobody talks about this crime because it's a 'downer'. 

How can we as human beings consider ourselves better than the animals when we continue to behave in this manner?

FAST FACTS

• On average, a child will disclose to five people before abuse actually gets reported.

• About half never tell anyone.

• 95% of those abusers are relatives or friends of their victims.

• Six months is the average time served by a convicted child sex offender

• One in three girls will be sexually abused. The average age is 12. One in six boys will be abused. The average age is 4.

— Source, Little Warriors