Children’s doctor Myles Bradbury has been jailed for 22 years after admitting he abused 18 boys in his care – described by the judge as ‘one of the worst forms of sexual abuse imaginable’.
The 41-year-old, from Herringswell, Suffolk, worked as a paediatric consultant haematologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, where he carried out medical examinations on boys ‘purely for his own sexual gratification’, Cambridge Crown Court heard.
He filmed some of them using a spy pen and abused others behind a curtain while their parents were in the room.
He pleaded guilty to 25 offences, including sexual assault, voyeurism and possessing more than 16,000 indecent images, against boys aged between 10 and 16, and was sentenced today.
Judge Gareth Hawkesworth said Bradbury’s sentence would be reduced because of his early guilty pleas although ‘some might observe’ that the overwhelming evidence against him meant he had little choice but to admit the offences.
Describing Bradbury as ‘manipulative’, he added: ‘For a doctor to attack children in this way is one of the worst forms of sexual abuse imaginable.’
The judge continued: ‘These boys were all vulnerable and gravely ill.
‘In all my years on the bench, I have never come across such a grotesque betrayal of your Hippocratic oath.
‘There are almost too many aggravating factors to list in your prolonged carefully, planned and cruel abuse.
‘It is implicit in what you did for your own sexual gratification that you were targeting the most vulnerable, sick children.’
He added that he had no doubt Bradbury had caused ‘serious psychological’ harm to his victims and there was a risk he would do so in future but said the doctor’s recognition of his deviancy meant the risk could be managed.
‘Bradbury was highly respected and revered by the families of his victims, who trusted him implicitly.
‘But he betrayed that trust in an appalling way, by carrying out examinations purely for his own sexual gratification.
‘The investigation into his crimes was complex and challenging, and I want to acknowledge the support provided by Cambridge University Hospitals in order to gather the evidence to bring this case to court.
‘I would also like to pay tribute to the victims and their families who have shown great bravery in coming forward and ensuring Bradbury was held to account.’
The Crown Prosecution Service in the East of England said the offences were ‘one of the worst’ cases of a breach of trust it had ever prosecuted.
Michelle Brown, head of its rape and serious sexual offences unit, said: ‘This paedophile doctor took advantage of his young patients battling serious illness by systematically sexually abusing them. Such cruelty is unimaginable to most of us.
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