A Pennsylvania mother admitted to locking her 11-year-old son to a fuel tank and other objects in an attempt to control what he ate.
Chazzity Candelario, 33, from North Lebanon Township, pleaded guilty to several charges connected to her treatment of the boy. Court prosecutors said she once kept him chained for 17 hours after he “ate too many hot dogs.”
Police were called to her home at 680 East Kercher Avenue on January 11, 2025, following reports of a boy “restrained with handcuffs,” Lebanon County Regional Police said online.
“An investigation revealed the juvenile’s mother … had restrained the juvenile to an oil tank in the basement using handcuffs,” authorities confirmed.
When officers arrived, Candelario was not home. Her other children showed police to a bedroom where they found their brother handcuffed to the railing of an upper bunk bed. The boy explained he had first been locked in the basement but had managed to get free. While moving around, he accidentally handcuffed himself to the bed.
Police contacted Candelario, and she reportedly told them not to talk to her kids until she returned home. When she arrived, she explained that managing her son during work was difficult, so she would put him in a small 3-by-8-foot utility room and chain him to the oil tank.
The boy told detectives this wasn’t a one-time thing. He was often restrained for long periods during her work hours, sometimes attached to a post, police said.
Candelario faced felony counts of unlawful restraint and false imprisonment of a minor, along with a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of children. She entered a no contest plea in November and was sentenced to 16 months to five years in a state correctional facility, WGAL reported.
“No way … should that have happened,” Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles Jones said during sentencing. “You’ve got to do whatever you can to make it up to your children for having that happen,” he added.
Candelario has a history of legal troubles. In 2017, she was arrested on charges including endangering the welfare of children, marijuana possession, and drug paraphernalia possession. Her partner, John Zayas, faced similar charges at the time. Facebook photos show him appearing alongside Candelario and their children.
She often shares updates about her children online. A series of Halloween 2021 photos show her kids dressed as characters from The Addams Family, including one son wearing imitation handcuffs.
During sentencing, Candelario’s attorney said she had been “very sorry, very remorseful” throughout the case. She chose not to address the court herself, per AOL.
Lebanon District Attorney Pier Hess Graf told the Daily News, “As a mother, the defendant’s sole duty is to care for, love, and protect her children more than anyone else in this world. This defendant instead chained her children up to suffer at her own hand and subject to her own evil will.”
The case shocked the local community, especially because the abuse happened over something as simple as eating. Law enforcement and child welfare officials hope her children will now be safe and get the care they need.
Neighbors said the family seemed normal, and no one expected the extreme methods used to control the boy.
While Candelario begins her prison sentence, the focus turns to her children’s recovery. Support systems, counseling, and proper supervision will be key to helping them heal from the trauma.
