A woman accused of keeping her grandson caged in a dog kennel four days a week while she went to work has been barred by court order from having any contact with the boy.
June Candelario, 61, was advised in the Adams County Jail today by Magistrate Emily Anderson that she was being held for investigation of false imprisonment, child abuse, kidnapping and reckless endangerment.
Candelario allegedly padlocked her 13-year-old grandson in a dog kennel four nights a week in the small house they shared on the 6700 block of Ash Street after his mother died of cancer.
Anderson declined a request by Candelario’s attorney to lower the bail set at $100,000 bail on charges. She also gave her a restraining order from seeing or speaking with her grandson.
Candelario has been suspended from her job counseling inmates with emotional problems at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, sheriff’s spokesman Jim Shires has said.
Candelario kept the 110-pound boy in the kennel which is 46 inches by 30 inches by 35 inches. She worked from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays.
The boy, who neighbors said attends Adams City Middle School, has been placed under protective custody by social services.
A school classmate overheard the boy talk about the treatment and reported it to his mom, who in turn notified police, authorities said.
Candelario was the boy’s sole guardian since his grandfather, Leroy Candelario, died in 2002. His mother died in 2001 of leukemia, neighbors said.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
