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California mom accused of shackling 10-year-old son

A California mother is accused of shackling her 10-year-old son to prevent him from getting into trouble.
lock and chain

LOS ANGELES (CNN) — A Southern California mother accused of shackling her young son pleaded not guilty Monday and will be released from custody with an ankle bracelet.

Irma Navarro, 37, faces one count each of felony child abuse and endangerment and misdemeanor child abuse and endangerment.

She will be required to wear the bracelet, which will monitor her whereabouts. The judge at her Monday arraignment set the next court date in the case for July 30.

Navarro allegedly shackled her son because she did not want him “running the streets and getting into trouble or mixed up with the wrong group of kids while she was at work,” according to a statement from the Santa Ana Police Department in Orange County.

Officers found the child, 10, in the courtyard of an apartment complex. He had a long chain wrapped around his ankles, they reported. The chain was locked and had to be removed with bolt cutters.

A witness told police she and a friend had noticed the boy leaning against a tree and crying. She asked how the chain and lock got around his ankles, and he allegedly told her, “My mom did this to me,” police said.

Navarro has three children. Another one of her children was being watched by a baby sitter, while the third was at school at the time of the incident, police said.

All three were reportedly placed in protective custody by Social Services.

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