MAY 1--A New Jersey woman has been charged with felony child endangerment after she allegedly took her five-year-old daughter into a tanning booth, where the child suffered serious burns.

Patricia Krentcil, 44, was hit yesterday with a felony count approved by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. She was arrested last week by the Nutley Township Police Department.

The investigation of Krentcil began after cops were summoned to the elementary school attended by the kindergartener, who was in pain due to what appeared to be a severe sunburn. The subsequent probe determined, cops allege, that Krentcil took her child into a tanning booth at a Nutley parlor a week prior to her April 24 arrest.

State law bars children under the age of 14 from using a tanning facility. Investigators contend that Krentcil brought her daughter into a stand-up tanning booth without the knowledge of parlor employees.

Pictured in the above mug shot (click to enlarge), Krentcil was freed from the Essex County jail after posting $25,000 bail. (1 page)