British cancer specialist jailed for sexually assaulting young patients

London: A British cancer doctor was jailed for 22 years on Monday for sexually abusing 18 of his young patients with what prosecutors described as "unimaginable cruelty."

Myles Bradbury, a blood cancer specialist at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, admitted 25 charges dating back to 2009, including sexual assault of a child under 13 years, sexual activity with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and making indecent photographs.

He was arrested in 2013 after Canadian authorities alerted Britain's Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) in July 2012 that he had bought a DVD containing indecent images of children.

"The extent of that abuse and the number of victims - 18 - was a gross breach of the trust placed in Myles Bradbury and one of the worst cases of this kind that we have prosecuted," said Michelle Brown of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

"This paedophile doctor took advantage of his young patients battling serious illness by systematically sexually abusing them," she added in a statement after sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court.

"Such cruelty is unimaginable to most of us."