Father of triplets gets prison term for repeated abuse

BOSTON (Reuters) - A New Hampshire father of triplets pleaded guilty on Tuesday to abusing his children in attacks that began at their birth and was sentenced to 15 to 30 years behind bars.

Now almost two years old, the children of Thomas Campo, 44, an engineer from Plaistow, New Hampshire, suffered broken ribs and a fractured skull, prosecutors said. Bite marks also were found on one infant's ear and abdomen, they said.

Under a plea deal, Campo will serve three consecutive terms of five to 10 years in prison, as sentenced on Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Tina Nadeau in Rockingham, New Hampshire.

He pleaded guilty to 19 counts of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault.

The abuse began immediately after the triplet's birth on April 6, 2009, said a Plaistow police affidavit.

An investigation was launched when they were four months old and their mother, Campo's wife Zoya, brought one of the infants to a hospital, complaining the baby was fussy and had an earache.

Doctors saw a bite mark on the baby's abdomen and alerted child protection services, according to prosecutors.

Zoya Campo told investigators her husband "loses his temper sometimes," and Campo admitted to abusing the children, the police affidavit said.

The mother cooperated with the investigation, and there was no evidence she was involved, said Rockingham County Attorney James Reams.

The Campos have another child, age 4, and it was not certain whether any of the children were in protective custody, assistant County Attorney Jerome Blanchard said.

(Reporting by Marcia Scott Harrison; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Greg McCune)