Boy-in-kennel charges

Kidnapping, 38 other counts filed against grandmother

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 2, 2006 at midnight

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BRIGHTON - The grandmother who is accused of keeping her grandson locked in a portable dog kennel at night for the past three years was charged with 39 counts Thursday.

June Candelario, 61, of Commerce City, faces one felony count of attempt to commit child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of second-degree kidnapping, and 37 counts of misdemeanor child abuse.

"We felt these were the appropriate charges for what was going on," Don Quick, Adams County district attorney, said Thursday.

He said the kidnapping charge was not based on the distance that the child was moved but on the fact that he was placed in a dangerous situation when he was moved.

Candelario, a Jefferson County detention counselor, is accused of locking her 13-year-old grandson in the kennel for 11 hours a day while she went to work Monday through Thursday for the past three years.

The kennel was stored in a slightly larger plywood box.

The grandson told investigators that he was allowed to go to the bathroom before he went into the kennel but not given any food or water while he was in it.

The 5-foot-4-inch 110-pound boy also said he had to pull his knees to his chest in order to fit in the 46-by-30-by-35-inch enclosure and was unable to move except for rolling on his side.

As a result of his imprisonment, the teenager suffered bruises. Two weeks ago, he said the rising heat inside the cage caused him to vomit - traces of which were still in the kennel last week when the police removed the boy from the home.

According to court documents, Candelario allegedly told social services that she thought that keeping the boy in the kennel was better than letting him walk the streets.

Thursday, Candelario, who was free on $100,000 bond, appeared in Adams County District Court without an attorney.

Instead, she was accompanied by a man who refused to identify himself.

Neither spoke or responded to questions from reporters, who trailed them as they arrived early for court, only to find the courtroom locked.

Once the door was unlocked, June Candelario's case was the first one called in the afternoon by visiting Judge Edgar Brandenberg.

"If you please, judge, I request 30 days in order to retain counsel," she said, after acknowledging her identity.

The request was granted.

Before she left the courtroom, however, prosecutor Justin Moore advised her of the potential penalties she would face if convicted of the charges: 5-to-16 years on the felony attempted child abuse charge; 2-to-6 years on the kidnapping count; and 2 years in jail for each of the 37 misdemeanor child abuse charges.

She also faces fines up to $500,000 each on the felony child abuse and kidnapping charges.

Candelario's son, Ralph Candelario, told CBS 4 News in an interview at her home that he was baffled by the accusations against his mother.

"I'm perplexed at the situation," he said. "It doesn't make sense to me, and I don't know . . . it's totally out of the range of what I would believe."

June Candelario is on paid leave from Jefferson County and prohibited from having contact with her grandson.

Ralph Candelario also told CBS 4 News that he had spoken to social services about his nephew.

"He seems to be doing OK," he said.

The teenager's half-brother, Norman Pfaffenhauser, had contacted Adams County Human Services department to offer to care for the boy but had been told that the youngster needed mental health evaluation.

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