Man gets 14 life terms for abusing his 3 children

SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) - A Texas man was sentenced Thursday to 14 life sentences for biting, whipping and starving his three children.

A Hays County jury gave Cesar Mojica Carmona, 24, the maximum penalty and fined him $140,000. The prison sentences will run concurrently.

Mojica Carmona was convicted of 14 felony counts of injury to a child for the injuries inflicted on his 4-year-old daughter and 3-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.

The sentence "ensures that a convicted child abuser will never harm his innocent children again," said state Attorney General Greg Abbott, whose office assisted Hays County with the prosecution.

Authorities seized the children from the home Mojica Carmona shared with Sara Amaya, their mother, in October 2006.

Abuse charges against Amaya are pending.

During Mojica Carmona's trial, doctors testified the children suffered from more than 140 patterned injuries, including at least 60 bite marks that left permanent scars all over their bodies. Beatings also left the children with more than 20 broken bones, most of which went untreated. The children also had multiple bruises, burns and lacerations.

Doctors also testified the abuse and malnourishment has left the children severely developmentally delayed. Prosecutors said the twins could not walk or talk when they were rescued.

The victims and a sibling born after the parents' arrest live together with a foster family that plans to adopt them, Abbott's office said.