Case Against Nutley 'Tanning Mom' Patricia Krentcil Sent To Grand Jury
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Authorities have referred the case of a Nutley mom accused of taking her young daughter into a tanning booth to a grand jury.
Patricia Krentcil was previously scheduled to appear in court Monday for a hearing on a child endangerment charge. That hearing was canceled once the case was sent to the grand jury.
The 44-year-old pleaded not guilty to the child endangerment charge in May following her April arrest.
Krentcil is accused of putting her 6-year-old daughter in a tanning booth, causing a slight sunburn. Krentcil has denied the charge, saying she "would never permit" her daughter, Anna, to go tanning.
"That child was never in that tanning booth," her attorney John D. Caruso said. "She loves her child more than her own life and would never ever allow her child to go inside that tanning bed."
"I'm innocent," Krentcil said last month. "Somebody is an idiot out there."
Krentcil said her daughter's burn actually came from the sun on an unusually warm day.
It's against New Jersey law for anyone under 14 to use a tanning booth.
Last month, the New Jersey Assembly approved an indoor tanning ban for all teens. The measure now heads to the Senate for consideration.
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