Heath and Deborah Campbell, Parents Who Gave Kids Nazi Names, Denied Custody

(Aug. 6) -- The New Jersey parents who gave their children names with Nazi themes have a history of domestic violence and should not regain custody of their children, a state appeals court has ruled.

The parents, Heath and Deborah Campbell of Holland Township, N.J., have not "received adequate treatment for their serious psychological conditions" and pose a threat to their three children, according to court documents, The Associated Press reported.

Heath and Deborah Campbell with son Adolf Hitler Campbell.

Rich Schultz, AP

Heath Campbell, left, with his wife, Deborah, and son Adolf Hitler Campbell, 3. A New Jersey appeals court has ruled the Campbells should not regain custody of their three children after the state Division of Youth Family Services removed them from their home in January 2009 for unspecified reasons.

In a 49-page ruling released Thursday, the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division said Adolf Hitler Campbell, 4, JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell, 3, and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell, 2, are better off in foster care, where the children were placed in January 2009. The decision overturns a ruling by a lower court that found there was not sufficient evidence of abuse or neglect to put the children in state custody.

The family attracted attention in late 2008 when a New Jersey grocery store said it refused to decorate the eldest son's birthday cake with his name, "Adolf Hitler." But the unusual names were not mentioned in court documents, according to multiple reports. Instead, a note Deborah Campbell wrote to her neighbor explaining that she thought her husband might kill her appeared to be at the center of the case.

"If anything may happened to me please do an altops [sic] on me b/c My husband has done something to me," the letter read. "Im afread [sic] that he might hurt my children if they are keeped [sic] in his care."

Neither parent is entirely literate. Deborah Campbell admitted writing the note, but called her husband "the perfect guy" in court, according to a report by ABC.

The ruling cited other concerns as well, including a restraining order from Campbell's ex-wife, who also feared for her life.

"We hold that evidence from the ex-wife was admissible to prove that defendant-father was a risk of harm to his children and that defendant-mother's denials of her husband's history of violence also made her a risk of harm to the children," the decision read, according to a report in The Star-Ledger of New Jersey.