Topline: Prosecutors said the child was restrained for hours in the basement of the family’s Lebanon County home before freeing himself and calling 911, leading to his mother’s prison sentence.
Published: January 12, 2026 3:56 pm ET
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Chazzity Candelario (via Lebanon County Regional Police Department)
LEBANON, PA — A Lebanon County mother who admitted to restraining her child with handcuffs as punishment was sentenced to state prison this week, closing a case that prosecutors have described as one of sustained and disturbing abuse.
According to WGAL, Chazzity Candelario entered a no-contest plea to multiple charges, including child endangerment, stemming from an incident in January 2025 in which her 11-year-old son was handcuffed to a fuel tank in the basement of their North Lebanon Township home.
Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles Jones Jr. sentenced the 34-year-old to a term of 16 months to five years in state prison, the Lebanon Daily News reported.
Lebanon County Regional Police were dispatched to the home on the 600 block of East Kercher Avenue at 9:55 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2025, for a welfare check after the child managed to free himself and call 911, according to court documents cited by the Lebanon Daily News. Officers found the boy handcuffed to the railing of the top bunk bed. The child told police he had initially been restrained to a fuel tank in the basement but accidentally handcuffed himself to the bed after freeing himself.
District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said the child had been restrained for nearly 17 hours, beginning around 5 a.m., as punishment for “eating too many hot dogs,” according to WGAL.
Graf told Fox 43 WPMT that Candelario closely monitored what the child ate and watched cameras inside the home to track him.
After handcuffing the child in the basement, Candelario left the house and did not return until later that night, Graf said, according to Fox 43. Police were initially told by Candelario not to speak with her children until she returned home, court records show.
Candelario admitted to investigators that she had difficulty controlling her children while she was away at work and acknowledged locking the child in a small 3-by-8-foot utility room and sometimes handcuffing him to the fuel tank, according to police statements quoted by Fox 43 and the Lebanon Daily News. The child told officers he was restrained in that manner for up to two hours at a time. A second juvenile told dispatchers during the 911 call that they had also been chained to a stair railing for punishment in 2020, according to court documents.
Judge Jones addressed Candelario directly during sentencing, saying, “No way, no how should that have happened, and you’ve got to do whatever you can to make it up to your children for having that happen,” according to the Lebanon Daily News.
Candelario spoke only briefly during the hearing, answering direct questions. Her attorney, public defender Michael Light, said she wanted to maintain contact with her three children and eventually be reunited with them. “She’s been very sorry, very remorseful throughout the time I’ve represented her,” Light told the judge, according to the Lebanon Daily News. Jones said any decision regarding contact would be left to Lebanon County Children and Youth and the county dependency court.
In a statement emailed to the Lebanon Daily News, Graf said Candelario “earned every day in prison and we hope she thinks about the horrors she inflicted on her own children.” Graf added, “As a mother, the defendant’s sole duty is to care for, love, and protect her children more than all 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.”
Graf previously told WGAL that the type of punishment imposed on the child was not unusual in the household.
The Department of Human Services operates a 24/7 hotline for reporting suspected child abuse. ChildLine can be reached at 800-932-0313.
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
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Prosecutors: Child Handcuffed to Fuel Tank for “Eating Too Many Hot Dogs” as Mother is Sentenced
Prosecutors said the child was restrained for hours in the basement of the family’s Lebanon County home before freeing himself and calling 911, leading to his mother’s prison sentence.
By Jacob Charles
Published: January 12, 2026 3:56 pm ET
Chazzity Candelario (via Lebanon County Regional Police Department)
LEBANON, PA — A Lebanon County mother who admitted to restraining her child with handcuffs as punishment was sentenced to state prison this week, closing a case that prosecutors have described as one of sustained and disturbing abuse.
According to WGAL, Chazzity Candelario entered a no-contest plea to multiple charges, including child endangerment, stemming from an incident in January 2025 in which her 11-year-old son was handcuffed to a fuel tank in the basement of their North Lebanon Township home.
Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles Jones Jr. sentenced the 34-year-old to a term of 16 months to five years in state prison, the Lebanon Daily News reported.
Lebanon County Regional Police were dispatched to the home on the 600 block of East Kercher Avenue at 9:55 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2025, for a welfare check after the child managed to free himself and call 911, according to court documents cited by the Lebanon Daily News. Officers found the boy handcuffed to the railing of the top bunk bed. The child told police he had initially been restrained to a fuel tank in the basement but accidentally handcuffed himself to the bed after freeing himself.
District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said the child had been restrained for nearly 17 hours, beginning around 5 a.m., as punishment for “eating too many hot dogs,” according to WGAL.
Graf told Fox 43 WPMT that Candelario closely monitored what the child ate and watched cameras inside the home to track him.
After handcuffing the child in the basement, Candelario left the house and did not return until later that night, Graf said, according to Fox 43. Police were initially told by Candelario not to speak with her children until she returned home, court records show.
Candelario admitted to investigators that she had difficulty controlling her children while she was away at work and acknowledged locking the child in a small 3-by-8-foot utility room and sometimes handcuffing him to the fuel tank, according to police statements quoted by Fox 43 and the Lebanon Daily News. The child told officers he was restrained in that manner for up to two hours at a time. A second juvenile told dispatchers during the 911 call that they had also been chained to a stair railing for punishment in 2020, according to court documents.
Judge Jones addressed Candelario directly during sentencing, saying, “No way, no how should that have happened, and you’ve got to do whatever you can to make it up to your children for having that happen,” according to the Lebanon Daily News.
Candelario spoke only briefly during the hearing, answering direct questions. Her attorney, public defender Michael Light, said she wanted to maintain contact with her three children and eventually be reunited with them. “She’s been very sorry, very remorseful throughout the time I’ve represented her,” Light told the judge, according to the Lebanon Daily News. Jones said any decision regarding contact would be left to Lebanon County Children and Youth and the county dependency court.
In a statement emailed to the Lebanon Daily News, Graf said Candelario “earned every day in prison and we hope she thinks about the horrors she inflicted on her own children.” Graf added, “As a mother, the defendant’s sole duty is to care for, love, and protect her children more than all 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.”
Graf previously told WGAL that the type of punishment imposed on the child was not unusual in the household.
The Department of Human Services operates a 24/7 hotline for reporting suspected child abuse. ChildLine can be reached at 800-932-0313.
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
Editor's Note: ThePo makes every effort to accurately transcribe the contents of affidavits of probable cause contained in criminal complaints. Often, the complaints themselves are copies of copies of faxed copies, and are difficult to read. To confirm the accuracy of our transcription, contact the Magisterial District Court listed above and request a copy of the criminal complaint. It's a public record to which you are entitled.
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Prosecutors: Child Handcuffed to Fuel Tank for “Eating Too Many Hot Dogs” as Mother is Sentenced
Prosecutors said the child was restrained for hours in the basement of the family’s Lebanon County home before freeing himself and calling 911, leading to his mother’s prison sentence.
By Jacob Charles
Published: January 12, 2026 3:56 pm ET
Chazzity Candelario (via Lebanon County Regional Police Department)
LEBANON, PA — A Lebanon County mother who admitted to restraining her child with handcuffs as punishment was sentenced to state prison this week, closing a case that prosecutors have described as one of sustained and disturbing abuse.
According to WGAL, Chazzity Candelario entered a no-contest plea to multiple charges, including child endangerment, stemming from an incident in January 2025 in which her 11-year-old son was handcuffed to a fuel tank in the basement of their North Lebanon Township home.
Lebanon County Court of Common Pleas Judge Charles Jones Jr. sentenced the 34-year-old to a term of 16 months to five years in state prison, the Lebanon Daily News reported.
Lebanon County Regional Police were dispatched to the home on the 600 block of East Kercher Avenue at 9:55 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2025, for a welfare check after the child managed to free himself and call 911, according to court documents cited by the Lebanon Daily News. Officers found the boy handcuffed to the railing of the top bunk bed. The child told police he had initially been restrained to a fuel tank in the basement but accidentally handcuffed himself to the bed after freeing himself.
District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said the child had been restrained for nearly 17 hours, beginning around 5 a.m., as punishment for “eating too many hot dogs,” according to WGAL.
Graf told Fox 43 WPMT that Candelario closely monitored what the child ate and watched cameras inside the home to track him.
After handcuffing the child in the basement, Candelario left the house and did not return until later that night, Graf said, according to Fox 43. Police were initially told by Candelario not to speak with her children until she returned home, court records show.
Candelario admitted to investigators that she had difficulty controlling her children while she was away at work and acknowledged locking the child in a small 3-by-8-foot utility room and sometimes handcuffing him to the fuel tank, according to police statements quoted by Fox 43 and the Lebanon Daily News. The child told officers he was restrained in that manner for up to two hours at a time. A second juvenile told dispatchers during the 911 call that they had also been chained to a stair railing for punishment in 2020, according to court documents.
Judge Jones addressed Candelario directly during sentencing, saying, “No way, no how should that have happened, and you’ve got to do whatever you can to make it up to your children for having that happen,” according to the Lebanon Daily News.
Candelario spoke only briefly during the hearing, answering direct questions. Her attorney, public defender Michael Light, said she wanted to maintain contact with her three children and eventually be reunited with them. “She’s been very sorry, very remorseful throughout the time I’ve represented her,” Light told the judge, according to the Lebanon Daily News. Jones said any decision regarding contact would be left to Lebanon County Children and Youth and the county dependency court.
In a statement emailed to the Lebanon Daily News, Graf said Candelario “earned every day in prison and we hope she thinks about the horrors she inflicted on her own children.” Graf added, “As a mother, the defendant’s sole duty is to care for, love, and protect her children more than all 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.”
Graf previously told WGAL that the type of punishment imposed on the child was not unusual in the household.
The Department of Human Services operates a 24/7 hotline for reporting suspected child abuse. ChildLine can be reached at 800-932-0313.
Presumption of Innocence: A presumption of innocence means that any defendant in a criminal trial is presumed to be innocent until they have been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. The defendant in this case is only accused of the charges set forth in the criminal complaint. They are innocent until proven guilty.
Editor's Note: ThePo makes every effort to accurately transcribe the contents of affidavits of probable cause contained in criminal complaints. Often, the complaints themselves are copies of copies of faxed copies, and are difficult to read. To confirm the accuracy of our transcription, contact the Magisterial District Court listed above and request a copy of the criminal complaint. It's a public record to which you are entitled.
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