Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife were indicted Tuesday on charges of child endangerment for allegedly abusing their teenage daughter, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
The indictment, handed down by a grand jury, charges both Marty Small, 50, and La’Quetta Small, 47, with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
The mayor also faces charges of third-degree terroristic threats and third-degree aggravated assault, according to a news release issued by the prosecutor’s office the next day.
A request for comment made after regular business hours to the mayor and city council wasn’t returned before publication.
According to prosecutors, the couple is accused of physically and emotionally abusing their daughter on multiple occasions between Dec. 2023 and Jan. 2024.
The news release identified the daughter as being 15 to 16 years old when the alleged abuse occurred.
In one incident on Jan. 13, Marty Small allegedly hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness.
Ten days earlier, he allegedly repeatedly threatened to “earth slam” her down the stairs, grab her by the head and throw her to the ground, and smack the “weave out of her head” during an argument, prosecutors said.
In another incident, the Democratic mayor reportedly punched his daughter in the leg multiple times, which caused bruising.
La’Quetta Small, who serves as the superintendent of Atlantic City’s public schools, is accused of allegedly punching her daughter in the chest, causing bruising, dragging her by the hair, and striking her with a belt in separate incidents.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Marty Small said his daughter is still at home with him and his wife, and there are two sides to a story.
“All people have heard is one side of the story,” he told reporters. “We look forward to telling our side.”
In an interview with Marty Small’s lawyer, Ed Jacobs, the attorney said the allegations are unrelated to Marty Small’s tenure as mayor and shouldn’t be investigated by the prosecutor’s office.
“This indictment has absolutely nothing to do with Marty Small’s tenure as mayor of Atlantic City,” Jacobs told The Associated Press. “There’s no charge of corruption or any official misconduct. Marty and La’Quetta Small don’t need the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office meddling into a private family matter.”
He said the two are good parental figures and assured they will be exonerated of the charges.
Jacobs didn’t immediately return a request for comment by NTD News.
The case was investigated by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Special Victims Unit. The couple were initially charged on a summons in April, which included disorderly persons simple assault charges.
The indictment comes just days after the principal of Atlantic City High School, Constance Days-Chapman, was indicted for allegedly failing to report the abuse to state child welfare authorities, which is required by law and school district policy.
Days-Chapman, who is a close of the Smalls and an employee of La’Quetta Small, was told by the girl, who was 15 at the time in December, that she was suffering from headaches from being beaten by her parents. Instead of telling the authorities, she allegedly told the Smalls, according to the indictment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.