They said/We said: Who’s afraid of Tanning Bed Mom

After years of over-exposure to UV rays, Patricia Krentcil (better known as or TBM) is finding herself in a whole different kind of light—the spotlight. Krentil is facing 10 years in prison for second-degree child endangerment after allegedly bringing her five-year-old daughter into a tanning bed.

The whole debacle started after a teacher noticed a serious sunburn on the chubby-cheeked child who remarked she had gone tanning with her mom.  While TBM’s lips were saying her daughter’s burn was from a day of casual gardening, her football-coloured (and textured, for that matter) tan was saying differently.

Given the number of times Krentcil’s mug shot has been flashed, it’s not surprising that her leathery hide skin has become an unofficial PSA for the anti-tanning bed crusade. Not to mention the fact that it is illegal to use a tanning bed under the age of 14 in New Jersey (which is where this case stems from, naturally). Allegations that she is a tanning addict were quickly shot down by her lawyer who said, “Obviously, she tans. To call her an addict, I think, is a real leap.” Yeah.

Through it all, TBM has been asserting that she did not take her daughter into the tanning bed but that the little Krentc il was just standing beside the bed (her words: “I’m not dumb”). Hmmm, such blatant disregard for the damaging effects of UV rays would maybe suggest otherwise. Even if this whole thing is a big case of broken telephone, it’s clear something is wrong. Tannervention, anyone?

THEY SAID:

Snooki: “That b*** is crazy… You are not supposed to take kids there. Everyone knows you are NOT supposed to take kids there.” [Extra]

Jimmy Kimmel: “Is she tanning or did she fall down the chimney? She looks like Wile E. Coyote after the dynamite stick blows up.” [Jimmy Kimmel Live!]

WE SAID:

Lesa Hannah, beauty director: “I just don’t even know where to begin, from this woman’s own appearance to the fact that she’s fittingly from Jersey. But more seriously, this is child abuse, straight up.”

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