N.J. 'Tanning Mom' Reportedly Banned From Salons
The New Jersey woman charged with allowing her then 5-year-old daughter into a tanning booth may have to travel a little further if she wants to maintain her own infamously copper complexion.
At least four tanning salons near the Nutley, N.J., home of Patricia Krentcil have banned her from visiting, according to a report posted on TMZ.com today.
Sources told the website that one of the salons, the New Jersey-based Planet Sun Tanning Salons chain, has gone so far as to post pictures of Krentcil, known as " tanning mom," in their eight salons so that employees can identify her.
Krentcil, 44, was arrested and charged with second-degree child endangerment earlier this month after a school nurse noticed a rash on Krentcil's daughter, Anna, that the child said was from going tanning with her mother. The school notified child services and Krentcil was taken into custody while Anna was placed in her father's custody.
Krentcil plead not guilty and was released after posting $25,000 bail. She said that her daughter got the sunburn from being outdoors and that, while her daughter was in the room with her at the salon, she was never in the tanning booth.
"I never once in my life let me daughter, especially at that age, go into a tanning booth," Krentcil told " Good Morning America." "I'm very tan and I've been tanning my whole life."
New Jersey law forbids anyone under 14 to use a tanning booth. Authorities have declined to identify the salon where Krentcil allegedly took her daughter, citing the "ongoing investigation," but ABC News has identified it as the City Tropics tanning salon in Nutley, N.J.
The owner of the salon told ABCNews.com today that his salon, despite reports otherwise, is not under the threat of a further investigation by the New Jersey Department of Health or the local Nutley Health Department.
"Different agencies have showed up now, they've checked the beds and everything was perfect," said the owner, Anthony, who declined to give his last name. "The state comes in, I believe, every year. We run a very clean place, no citations."
"I believe she [Anna] was not in a tanning bed whatsoever," he said. "If that child went into that standup unit [the tanning bed used by Krentcil], even for half the time let's say, she would have been in the burn unit."
A called placed to the Nutley Health Department today by ABCNews.com was not returned. An employee at the Nutley branch of the Planet Sun Tanning Salons declined to comment. A call to the chain's corporate office was not returned.
Krentcil's extreme tan seemed to become increasingly darker as the media and public outrage around her intensified.
The mother of five, who called her critics "jealous, fat and…ugly," was mocked on "Saturday Night Live" and saw her parenting and tanning abilities called into question by fellow New Jersey resident, "Jersey Shore" star Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi.
Krentcil will now have one thing even "Snooki" does not have, her own action figure. Connecticut-based doll maker HeroBuilders.com has announced it is releasing a "Tanorexic doll" featuring Krentcil's signature burnt face and golden hair.
The $29.95 doll reportedly uses the same body from the Sarah Palin action figure the company also sells.
ABC News' Linsey Davis and Daisha Riley contributed to this report.
