'Tanning Mom' Case Headed to Grand Jury

By Jennifer H. Cunningham and Helen Kennedy / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Credit: NORMAN Y. LONO FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Patricia Krentcil sees the doll made in her burnt likeness for the first time. Her mother-in-law Harriet Krentcil attempts to calm Patricia.

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    Patricia Krentcil, the New Jersey mom accused of putting her 5-year-old in a tanning bed long enough to get burned, now has a new doll fashioned in her likeness.

    (TMZ.com / HeroBuilder.com)

8 photos

June 4, 2012 Updated Jun 4, 2012 at 3:59 PM PDT

The child endangerment case against “tanning mom” Patricia Krentcil is going to a grand jury, officials in New Jersey said Monday. Krentcil, whose evident pride in her leathery, mahogany skin has made her a media sensation, seemed to think she was off the hook on charges she took her 5-year-old into her beloved tanning booth.

“I just have to go and sign papers. That's all,” she said. Instead, the grand jury which will hear the case in the next few weeks could decide to indict her.

Krentcil, 44, was far more focused on a new action figure doll of her that a novelty company has begun hawking. Presented with the doll Monday, she expressed shock and anger - and threatened to sue.

"Oh my God!!" she screamed. "That doesn't look like me! - You wait ’til my attorney attacks this issue.” The doll has blazing neon-yellow hair and a crispy, dark orange complexion that isn’t too far off.

Krentcil, dressed in costume jewelry, a peach top, black pants and her trademark sunglasses and pink lipstick, examined the doll outside her mother-in-law’s house in Parsippany, N.J.

“I want to go on David Letterman and make a laugh out of this doll,” she said. "This is not gonna end. This is ridiculous.”

Krentcil, of Nutley, N.J., pleaded not guilty in May to second degree child endangerment after her daughter, Anna, was treated for a sunburn at school and told school officials she tanned with her mother. New Jersey law bans children under 14 from tanning booths.

Her parents say the child merely spent too much time outside on a sunny day.

Krentcil, a mother of five who normally visits a tanning booth five times a week, said she’s been too busy lately to keep up her routine. "I spray," she said, smiling

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