Grand jury fails to indict 'tanning mom'

The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. -- A grand jury in New Jersey has decided to let a woman who became an overnight sensation as "the tanning mom" bronze away in peace.

Prosecutors in Newark said Tuesday the grand jury refused to indict Patricia Krentcil on a charge she took her 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth with her. New Jersey state law bans children younger than 14 from using tanning salons.

The 44-year-old Nutley woman was arrested last April and charged with child endangerment. Police became involved after school officials noticed burns on Krentcil's daughter's legs.

Krentcil said that her daughter's burn came from the sun on an unusually warm day and that she would never take the girl into a tanning booth.

The arrest generated wide publicity partly because of Krentcil's deep tan and professed love of tanning salons. Her instant fame even extended to a toy company making a "tanoerexic" action figure based on her.

A message left for Krentcil's attorney was not immediately returned.