I was a world famous tanning addict – then I was JAILED after being accused of taking my girl, 5, on a sun bed
HER face is instantly recognisable as 'Tan Mom' - Patricia Krentcil.
In 2012 she was accused of bringing her then-five-year-old daughter into a New Jersey tanning bed, charged with child endangerment for allegedly exposing her child to artificial UV rays in a salon — and earned the nickname Tan Mom overnight.
Police became involved when Patricia's daughter allegedly arrived at school with sunburn all over her body, while Patricia said she only had “a little bit of burn on her back.”
“I was accused of child endangerment. I was vindicated through the courts,” she said, who told The Post she still tans twice a week. “The owner of the tanning salon told the police when they came and asked, ‘Did she bring her daughter into the booth?’ and the owner said, ‘No.'”
A grand jury ultimately in 2013 and she did not lose custody of her little girl.
“I was dubbed ‘Tan Mom’ all over tabloids, and this turned into the most massive hurricane in the world,” Patricia, 54, told The Post’s series of the scandal. “It went global. There are no words to describe what happened to me and my family.”
Now she's also spoken to about the ordeal. In an interview yesterday she said she's mainly given up sun beds - and is planning to sell the £4k one she has at her home in Florida.
"I couldn't tan — I was banned," she told Insider, referring to the days after her arrest. "When 'Tan Mom' hit I was a wreck... I'm a totally different person today — I changed my whole attitude on life. I've turned my life around. I don't get disrespected anymore. I don't party or do any crazy things."
“I did nothing wrong, period,” she said to the Post.
“It doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s two separate people,” she explained to The Post. “There’s Tan Mom, celebrity, and then there’s Patricia Marie, Mom.”
