A Pennsylvania mother has been arrested on child endangerment charges after allegedly handcuffing her 11-year-old son to an oil tank in her basement while she was at work, prosecutors said.
Chajti Candelario, 33, told police she would often restrain her son for up to two hours and lock him in a small utility closet inside her home in Lebanon, according to court documents obtained by local media. gave a statement.
The deranged mother claimed that she had difficulty controlling her children while at work.
“There's a difference between respecting authority and disciplining a child and abuse. This is abuse,” said Lebanon County District Attorney Pia Hess Graf. told Fox43.
“It's really scary to leave a child chained and handcuffed from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. when I'm supposed to be that little boy who loves me and cares for me and protects me. I can't imagine that a single person on this planet would think it appropriate to do this to me.”
The Lebanon County Regional Police Department responded to a home on East Karcher Street on January 11 at approximately 9:55 p.m. after receiving a report of a child restrained in a bed. the police said.
Police found the boy handcuffed to the top rail of a bunk bed in the home. The victim told officers that her mother had shackled her to a post in the basement, and after she managed to free herself, she had accidentally handcuffed her to the bed, the complaint said. WGAL reported.
The child also revealed that his mother handcuffed him to a fuel tank in the basement for hours.
She was arrested Monday and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, false imprisonment and unlawful restraint. According to prosecutors.
Mr. Candelario is being held in the Lebanon County Jail on $100,000 bail.
She is scheduled to appear in court on January 23rd.
