This week on Monday, April 15th, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife La’Quetta Small were formally charged with child endangerment, terroristic threats, aggravated assault, and disrupting the peace due to allegations of abusing their underage daughter.
The Smalls were once considered the most powerful couple in Atlantic City, with Marty Small Sr. serving as the city’s mayor since October 2019 and his wife La’Quetta Small as the Superintendent of the Atlantic City School District.
According to the Atlantic County prosecutor, Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife allegedly resorted to verbal and physical abuse towards their daughter for disagreeing with her relationship with her boyfriend. The daughter’s boyfriend secretly recorded audio and video evidence of the abuse and submitted it to the authorities.
Prosecutor William Reynolds cited various pieces of evidence in the case, including recordings of interactions between the girl and her parents, statements she made to law enforcement, school staff, therapists, and state child welfare investigators, as well as messages she sent to friends seeking help, expressing feeling unsafe at home.
Court documents allege that the mayor was accused of repeatedly striking his 16-year-old daughter’s head with a broom until she lost consciousness and assaulting her legs multiple times. La’Quetta Small was accused of pulling her daughter’s hair, hitting her chest and face, and using a belt to beat her.
A social media user @collinrugg claimed that due to the mayor’s and his wife’s abuse, their daughter had a miscarriage. However, Small denied the rumors of their daughter being unmarried and pregnant.
Messages from the girl to her friends included pleas to stay with them as she felt unsafe at home and had already packed her bags.
The girl stated, “I have been abused mentally, emotionally, verbally, and physically, a lot, and I’m lost, crying every night.”
All the reported incidents of abuse occurred between December and January, with a police search of the Small’s residence on March 28. The Smalls held a press conference with their daughter on April 1, denying any wrongdoing.
Two weeks ago, Atlantic City High School principal Constance Days-Chapman was arrested for failing to report students’ abuse to state authorities and faced charges of improper behavior, obstruction, hindering, and disrupting the peace.
According to reports, the girl confided in school counselors about her experiences, but the principal informed her parents. Days-Chapman was Mayor Small’s campaign manager during his 2021 mayoral election.
The Smalls have retained prominent criminal defense attorney Edwin Jacobs to represent them and opted for direct summons instead of having a grand jury decide on a guilty prosecution, avoiding the need for arrest and bail procedures, allowing Mayor Marty Small Sr. to continue his duties as Atlantic City Mayor.
It is expected that with Jacobs’ expertise in prolonged courtroom battles, this case will extend for a considerable period.