"Tanning mom" Patricia Krentcil cleared, N.J. grand jury declines to indict in child endangerment case

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

Patricia Krentcil n Essex County Superior Court on May 2, 2012, in Newark, N.J.

/ AP Photo/Julio Cortez

(CBS/AP) NEWARK, N.J. - A New Jersey grand jury has refused to indict Patricia Krentcil, the woman known widely as the "tanning mom" after she was accused of endangering her child by bringing her into a tanning booth.

Pictures: NJ mom accused of putting 6-year-old in tanning booth

Prosecutors in Newark said Tuesday the decision means the 44-year-old Nutley woman will no longer face a child endangerment charge.

Krentcil was arrested last April for allegedly violating a state law banning children under 14 from using tanning salons. Police became involved after school officials noticed burns on Krentcil's then-5-year-old daughter's legs.

Krentcil said her daughter's burns came from the sun. She said she never would take her daughter into a tanning booth.

The arrest generated wide publicity largely because of Krentcil's extremely deep tan and professed love of tanning salons.

According to CBS New York, Krentcil's daughter remained in her mother's custody as the case proceeded through the grand jury. Prosecutors say the case is now over.

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