A woman who confessed to chaining her 11-year-old son to a fuel tank for 17 hours provided a disturbing justification for the cruel treatment. Chazzity Candelario faced serious charges of unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, and endangering a child’s welfare. Following a plea of no contest in November, she was recently sentenced to serve 16 months to five years in prison. Candelario, 33 at the time of her arrest, claimed she struggled to manage her children while at work, leading her to resort to shackling one of them for extended periods.
In a troubling incident, Candelario, residing in North Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania, confined her son for 17 hours for overeating hot dogs. Law enforcement responded to a call at her residence on January 11, 2025, concerning a boy restrained with handcuffs. Investigations uncovered that the juvenile’s mother had handcuffed him to an oil tank in the basement. When officers questioned her absence, her children directed them to a bedroom where the boy was found handcuffed to a bunk bed railing, having first been confined in the basement before inadvertently securing himself to the bed.
When authorities contacted Candelario, she instructed them not to interrogate her children until her return. She explained that managing her son during work hours was challenging, leading to him being confined in a small utility room and handcuffed to the oil tank. The child revealed he was frequently restrained while his mother was away, sometimes tethered to a post.
Candelario had previous legal issues in 2017 related to endangering her children’s welfare, possession of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. Family photos uploaded on Facebook showed her son in imitation handcuffs, along with other family members dressed as characters from The Addams Family.
During her sentencing, Candelario chose to remain silent, while her attorney expressed her remorse. The District Attorney criticized her actions, emphasizing a mother’s duty to care, love, and protect her children. The presiding judge admonished Candelario, stressing the gravity of her actions and the need to make amends to her children.
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