Mother-Child Tanning Case Goes to Prosecutor

The criminal case against the mother accused of endangering the welfare of her 5-year-old daughter by letting her use a tanning salon bed was referred to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office this morning, according to Nutley Police Chief John Holland.

Nutley Police officials said earlier that they arrested Patricia Krentcil, 44, of Nutley, for endangering the welfare of her daughter on April 23.  According to Holland, Krentcil's daughter Anna was burned in a booth at the Tropics Tanning Salon in Nutley. 

Holland said that children under 14 are not allowed to tan at indoor salons, while those 14 to 17 years old may do so with signed parental consent in New Jersey.

Krentcil, who has been interviewed by various news media outlets since the allegations began, denies the charges against her.

"She's my little girl.  I'm not going to bring my little daughter into a 90-degree [tanning] bed," she insisted in a videotaped interview with NBC News New York.  "I mean, that's not normal."

Krentcil's daughter told her school nurse she got a sunburn from tanning with her mother, prompting the school to call child services.

Krentcil maintains she and her daughter do visit the salon together, but that the child never entered the tanning booth. Krentcil said her daughter got a sunburn from helping in the garden on a warm weekend.

"The pediatrician said that she's got a little sunburn, but it was only that weekend we were out doing the gardening," Krentcil told ABC News.

Police allege Krentcil took her daughter into the booth without tanning salon employees knowing.

Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, said, "The little girl went to school and reported she had these burns and that caused the school to contact authorities."  She added that the office is investigating the case further.

Holland said, "In a case like this, when the matter is referred to the Prosecutor, we are to have no further comment." 

On Wednesday, Krentcil posted a $25,000 bail in Nutley and was taken to the Camden County Sheriff’s Department on unrelated charges stemming from an earlier unpaid fine, according to news reports and the Nutley police department.  The ABC news article reported that, after posting bail, Krentcil was released and her daughter was placed in her father's custody.