Atlantic City’s mayor and his wife have been charged with child abuse offenses about two weeks after investigators searched their home.
Mayor Marty Small Sr. and La’Quetta Small, the superintendent of Atlantic City’s public schools, both repeatedly beat their daughter on separate occasions over a period of about a month, leaving the teenager with bruising, prosecutors allege. In one instance, the mayor is accused of hitting the girl with a broom until she was unconscious.
That strike left the teenager hospitalized in January, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Marty Small, 50, and La’Quetta Small, 47, are both charged with endangering the welfare of a child, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday. The mayor was also charged with third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree aggravated assault and disorderly persons simple assault.
La’Quetta Small was also charged with three counts of disorderly persons simple assault.
Small’s attorney, Ed Jacobs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NJ Advance Media. At a press conference following the search at the mayor’s home, the attorney denounced the warrants to search the Smalls’ home.
The couple is accused of repeatedly hitting their daughter between December and January, when she was 15 and 16, prosecutors said. The girl allegedly became unconscious from being struck in the head with a broom by the mayor. Another instance involved the mayor “earth slamming” the teenager down the stairs. He is also accused of grabbing her head, throwing her to the ground and “smacking the weave out of her head.’”
La’Quetta Small, prosecutors said, also punched the teen multiple times, enough to leave bruising on her chest. In other instances, she allegedly pulled the teen by her hair before striking her with a belt, leaving her with marks on her shoulders. She is also accused of punching her daughter in the mouth during an argument.
Marty Small has been mayor since 2019, replacing Frank Gilliam, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges. Small was previously a long-serving city council member who’d been considered a frontrunner to be elected to the mayoral position.
An Atlantic City spokesperson directed questions to the family’s legal team.
La’Quetta Small heads the city’s public schools. The district came under fire in recent weeks when Atlantic City High School’s principal, Constance Days-Chapman, was charged with violating laws to report child abuse accusations made by a student.
A email to the school district from NJ Advance Media was not immediately returned.
Days-Chapman previously managed the mayor’s reelection campaign. The mayor’s legal team has not said whether Days-Chapman case is linked to the mayor’s case or if the child abuse allegations involved the mayor’s daughter.
Charges against the principal were announced the same day as multiple police vehicles were seen outside of the Small home on Presbyterian Avenue, stirring interest from bystanders who took photos of the raid.
Marty Small and his attorney both said police seized at least one cell phone and laptop from inside the house.
Authorities recently confirmed its investigation at the home, saying the courts approved warrants to search the property. Any juveniles were removed from the residence before it was searched, officials said.
Prosecutors said their investigation uncovered a pattern of abuse by the Smalls. The mayor is scheduled to appear in court on May 15, according to a criminal complaint.
The couple and their two children appeared before cameras and reporters two weeks ago to answer questions about why police searched the home. Marty Small said authorities were probing a “family matter.”
The investigation into the Smalls drew interest from Atlantic City organizations and other local leaders, who gathered last week in to publicly question the raid at the couple’s home.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
