New Jersey resident Patricia Krentcil was arrested after she took her daughter, 5, into a tanning salon.

The little girl suffered burns and Krentcil was charged with second-degree child endangerment.

However, Krentcil claims that her daughter was not exposed to the UV rays, was not inside the actual booth or the bed and that she sustained the burns when she was playing outside in the sun on a warm day.

The little girl reportedly told classmates she went “tanning with Mommy.” Her father, Rich Krentcil, thinks a concerned teacher heard the comment and attributed the sunburn to the salon. The authorities got involved, since children under 14 are not allowed to use tanning salons. Rich said, “It was 85 degrees outside, she got sunburned. That’s it. That’s all that happened.”

For her part, Mrs. Krentcil admitted that she totes her daughter along on her tanning trips, treating them as if they were a normal errand, like going to the post office. She is adamant that her daughter was never inside the booth.

“It’s like taking your daughter to go food shopping,” she said. “There’s tons of moms that bring their children in.” She reaffirmed, “I tan, she doesn’t tan. I’m in the booth, she’s in the room. That’s all there is to it.”

Krentcil, who looks incredibly over-tanned in the video below, was released on $25,000 bail. She will appear in court Wednesday with the hope that a judge will dismiss the case as a misunderstanding.

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