U.S. Woman Put 5-Year-Old Daughter in Tanning Bed

A New Jersey mother faces criminal charges for tucking her five-year-old child into bed -- a tanning bed.

Patricia Krentcil, 44, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to taking her daughter, now six, into the tanning booth at a salon where she regularly soaks up the rays, Essex County prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Katherine Carter told Agence France Presse.

The girl arrived at school with burns, prompting Krentcil's arrest on child endangerment charges last week.

Krentcil, a blue-eyed blonde whose skin has been tanned to a startlingly dark brown, told CBS television on Wednesday that the incident had been "blown out of proportion."

"No, not at all, not whatsoever," she answered, when asked if she'd allowed her daughter to join her under the damaging light. "There's no room."

Krentcil said the girl may have told teachers she went to the salon but this was only to accompany her.

"She's six years old. Yes, she does go tanning with mommy, but not in the booth," she said. "She's my little girl. I'm not going to bring my little daughter into a 90-degree bed."

Child endangerment charges are punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Carter said.