Father of Portage County man sentenced to life for rape now accused of raping same girl

After a Randolph Township man was recently sentenced to life in prison for rape, his father is now accused of raping the same girl.

A Portage County grand jury indicted Jeffery P. Campbell, 57, of Ravenna Township last month on three counts of first-degree felony rape.

Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci confirmed this week that Campbell is the biological father of the recently sentenced Jeffrey P. Pantalone, 34.

Vigluicci declined to provide details about the victim in the two cases.

However, Campbell and Pantalone's indictments both identify the victim, who is now 11, as a "Jane Doe" with the same birth date.

In addition, the Portage County Public Defender's Office filed a motion May 26 to withdraw as Campbell's counsel, stating, "This office previously represented the defendant's son in a similar circumstance involving a mutual victim."

The motion does not include the son's name.

According to Campbell's indictment, the alleged offenses against the girl took place between July 1 and Aug. 31, 2019, when the girl was 7.

Campbell is being held in Portage County Jail on a $2 million bond. A jury trial is scheduled for July 18, with a status conference and pretrial hearing scheduled for June 28 and a pretrial hearing for July 14.

Judge Laurie J. Pittman sentenced Pantalone to life in prison on May 11, the same day he pleaded guilty to 14 counts of first-degree felony rape and a single count of third-degree felony sexual battery. He is eligible for possible parole after 30 years.

According to Pantalone's indictment, the offenses were committed between May 2019, when the girl was 6, and March 8 this year.

Vigluicci has declined to comment on how Pantalone and Campbell knew the girl, saying he does not want to release any information that might identify her.

It has been erroneously reported that Pantalone was living in Atwater, but this was his mailing address. Portage County property records indicate his home is physically in Randolph.

Pantalone, then Jeffery Patrick Campbell II, filed an application in Portage County Probate Court to have his last name legally changed to Pantalone, his mother's name, in August 2006, according to court records. He was 17 at the time. The request was subsequently granted. Records identify the older Campbell as Pantalone's "natural father."

Court records show that Pantalone's first name remained Jeffery, but records in his most recent case spell it Jeffrey.

Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Father of man sentenced to life for rape accused of raping same girl