Eideard

A Delaware pediatrician accused of molesting more than 100 of his patients was sentenced Friday to serve his lifetime in prison.

Earl Bradley, whose practice was in Lewes, was given the maximum sentence of 14 life terms, plus 164 years in prison without the possibility of parole, according to a statement from the office of state Attorney General Beau Biden.

He originally had faced 529 counts of rape, sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful sexual contact and other charges. In June, he was found guilty of 24 counts.

The charges include first-degree rape, forcing girls to perform oral sex on him and filming dozens of children engaging in sex acts.

Police officers and detectives, but none of the alleged victims, testified in June at a bench trial, which is held before a judge without a jury. Bradley’s attorneys did not call any witnesses, nor did they make closing arguments.

The evidence against Bradley is based on video seized from his home and office, Biden has said. Public defenders in April challenged the scope of a search warrant used to acquire these tapes, but the judge ruled against them.

Throwing away the key is an unnecessary suggestion, I guess. But, I have to wonder if any of those kids complained to mom and dad and were ignored because the doctor must know best?

This went on, after all, for eleven years.

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

Megan Cavallari looks up from her stack of hundreds of faxes and documents, proof of her efforts to try to save her home from foreclosure. She’s been on hold for over an hour, trying to get details for a loan modification.

Finally, she’s transferred to another line. But she doesn’t get a human. Exasperated, she sighs. Once again, it’s the “automated lady.”

“Every report says the banks are helping, and everything on the radio says they’re helping,” Cavallari said. “You call and call and call; you’re not getting a voice. You’re getting a recording.”

Cavallari, a music composer who does scores for films, is like hundreds of thousands of Americans going through foreclosure. But she says the process of trying to save her home — and her $92,000 down payment — has worn her out. She recently filed for bankruptcy and is moving out of her home with her young daughter.

The entire ordeal has been draining, especially trying to reach somebody at the bank. “You call them. After being on the phone with them, they send you to an automated lady. [Then] they send you to a Web site after you’ve been on the phone for an hour.”

I think the core of the problem is banks tried to make their balance sheet look better by letting go everyone they could think of – including the people who should be answering those phones.

I asked some of these questions at my locally-owned bank. Their response? They’re going nuts trying to hire capable people – especially to handle the avalanche of home loan refinance applications. Interest rates have never been better and if you’re up to snuff, you can save yourself some money every month.