A mother in Pennsylvania is facing serious charges after allegedly locking up her 11-year-old son in a basement while she was at work. Police say 33-year-old Chazzity Candelario, from North Lebanon Township, restrained her son using handcuffs and left him attached to a fuel tank and other objects for hours.
Authorities were called to a home on East Kercher Avenue in North Lebanon Township on January 11 after receiving a report about a young boy being restrained. When officers arrived, they found the 11-year-old handcuffed to the railing of a top bunk bed in a bedroom. The boy explained that he had managed to escape from the basement where he had originally been locked up but accidentally handcuffed himself to the bed while trying to free himself.
Police began investigating and discovered that the boy’s mother had been locking him in a small, cramped utility room in the basement, measuring just 3 feet by 8 feet. She reportedly used handcuffs to secure him to an oil tank. According to the boy, this happened often while his mom was at work, with each incident lasting up to two hours. In some cases, he was restrained to a “post” in the room.
When police contacted Candelario, she allegedly told them not to speak to her children until she returned home. Once there, she admitted to locking up her son, saying she had trouble controlling him while she was away working.
This isn’t the first time Candelario has faced charges related to child endangerment. Back in 2017, she was arrested along with her partner, John Zayas, on similar charges. At the time, they were accused of endangering their children, as well as possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
Despite the troubling allegations, Candelario’s social media paints a very different picture. Her Facebook page is filled with posts about her children, including photos of them dressed up for Halloween in 2021 as characters from The Addams Family. In one of the pictures, a son is shown wearing fake handcuffs.
Currently, Candelario is being held in the Lebanon County Correctional Facility. Her bail has been set at $100,000, and she is waiting for a preliminary court hearing scheduled for January 23.
