Probation dropped against tanned NJ mom

The New Jersey mom accused of taking her young daughter into a tanning booth is no longer on probation in a separate case.

Officials at the Superior Court in Camden County said Friday that Patricia Krentcil's probation, which dated from a 1999 arrest, has been terminated. Sgt. Christina DeCristofor of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office said she was not sure why it had ended, though she said that happens frequently in older cases.

Neither Krentcil nor defense lawyer John Caruso immediately returned messages from The Associated Press.

Krentcil, 44, was charged last month in Essex County with child endangerment. Police said the woman, whose skin is bronze-colored from her regular tanning salon visits, took her daughter into a tanning booth last month. The girl was 5 at the time but has since turned 6.

Police said they were alerted by the kindergartener's school in Nutley because the girl was in pain from a sunburn.

Krentcil, who has pleaded not guilty, said her daughter's burn came from the sun on an unusually warm April day and that she would never take the girl into a tanning booth.

It's against New Jersey law for anyone under 14 to use a tanning booth.

The arrest in northern New Jersey got the attention of authorities in Camden County. That's where Krentcil was sentenced to five years' probation in 1999 for credit card theft, forgery and theft for writing bad checks. In 2001, a bench warrant was issued for her failure to appear at a probation hearing.

With probation being terminated, though, she's out of any legal trouble in Camden County.