BRIGHTON, Colo. -- A 61-year-old former state trooper and county jail counselor has struck a plea bargain with prosecutors, admitting to locking her grandson inside a kennel while she was at work.

June Candelario reached a plea deal with the Adams County District Attorney's Office last month, admitting to felony conspiracy to commit child abuse and misdemeanor child abuse charges, avoiding trial next week on more than 40 counts of child abuse.

The former Jefferson County Sheriff's Office inmate counselor was arrested last may after the 13-year-old told a friend that his grandmother was locking him a kennel at their home in Commerce City, Colo.

According to an arrest affidavit, Candelario used a chain and padlock to lock the boy in a kennel from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on days she worked at the Jefferson County Jail.

The boy told investigators he was not given any food or water while in the kennel. He told detectives he could not move inside the small dog kennel unless he rolled on his side. The boy said the routine began when he was 10.

The boy's mother died several years ago and Candelario is a widow. He is now in foster care.

Candelario will be sentenced in April.