A mother in Pennsylvania has been sentenced to 16 months to five years in prison after admitting to restraining her 11-year-old son to a fuel tank for 17 hours. Chazzity Candelario, 33 at the time of the incident, pleaded no contest to charges of unlawful restraint of a minor, false imprisonment of a minor, and endangering the welfare of children. She claimed that she shackled her son because she couldn’t control him while she was at work.
The incident came to light when police were called to Candelario’s home on January 11, 2025, and found the boy handcuffed to an oil tank in the basement. The child had initially been confined in the basement, managed to escape, but then inadvertently restrained himself to a bunk bed railing. Candelario instructed her children not to speak with the officers until she returned home. She explained to law enforcement that she confined her son in a small utility room while she was at work, where he was handcuffed either to the oil tank or a post.
This was not Candelario’s first brush with the law, as she had previously faced charges in 2017 related to endangering the welfare of children, marijuana possession, and possession of drug paraphernalia. The court expressed shock at the incident, with Judge Charles Jones emphasizing the need for Candelario to make amends to her children for the harm caused. Despite her lawyer’s statement of remorse, the District Attorney condemned Candelario’s actions, stating that as a mother, her primary duty was to care for and protect her children, which she failed to do.