Patricia Krentcil, New Jersey woman, arrested for taking 5-year-old to tanning salon VIDEO
A New Jersey woman arrested after police said she brought her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth said Wednesday that she was innocent of the charges but admits to excessive tanning herself.
Patricia Krentcil, 44, pleaded not guilty to second-degree child endangerment and said outside court that she is a “wonderful mother.”
Asked whether she admits to excessive tanning, Krentcil said “yes,” but insisted she would never subject her red-haired, fair-skinned daughter to the heat of a tanning bed.
The girl, who authorities said suffered a sunburn from the tanning booth, was allowed to stay in the home but is now being monitored by state child welfare workers.
Krentcil insists her daughter was never exposed to the tanning booth’s UV rays and instead got slightly sunburned while playing outside on a warm day.
The girl’s father told NBC 4 New York that his daughter told classmates at school that she “went tanning with Mommy.” He thinks a teacher overheard, inaccurately connected the girl’s sunburn to the tanning salon trip and contacted police.
“This whole big thing happened, and everyone got involved,” said Rich Krentcil. “It was 85 degrees outside, she got sunburned. That’s it. That’s all that happened.”
[…] Krentcil turned heads and caused some eyebrows to raise as she made headlines in May when she was arrested for taking her 5-year-old to the tanning […]