La'Quetta Small, the superintendent of schools in Atlantic City N.J., waits for a Board of Education meeting to begin on April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
WPATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, La'Quetta, the city's superintendent of schools, have been indicted on child endangerment and other charges for allegedly beating their teenage daughter on numerous occasions, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said the indictment was made Tuesday by a grand jury that accused the couple of child endangerment. Marty Small also was charged with assault and making terroristic threats.
Prosecutors said both parents hit and emotionally abused the girl, who was 15 to 16 years old, on multiple occasions in December and January.
“All people have heard is one side of the story,†Small told The Associated Press. “We look forward to telling our side.â€
He said his daughter remains at home with her parents.
“This indictment has absolutely nothing to do with Marty Small's tenure as mayor of Atlantic City,†said his lawyer, Ed Jacobs. “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.â€
“Marty and La'Quetta are a good mom and dad raising a teenage child,†he said. “They are totally innocent and will be totally exonerated.â€
Prosecutors said that on Jan. 13, 2024, Marty Small Sr. hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness.
Ten days earlier, they said, Small engaged in an argument with his daughter, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and threatening to throw her down a flight of stairs. He threatened to “smack the weave out†of her head during the incident, according to prosecutors.
The 50-year-old Democratic mayor also is accused of punching his daughter repeatedly in the legs, causing bruising.
La’Quetta Small, 47, is accused of punching her daughter multiple times on the chest, leaving bruising. In another alleged incident, she is accused of dragging her daughter by the hair and striking her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks.
In yet another incident, La’Quetta Small is accused of punching her daughter in the mouth during an argument.
The indictment of the Smalls came less than a week after the principal of Atlantic City High School was indicted in a case stemming from the same incidents.
Constance Days-Chapman was indicted on official misconduct, child endangerment and other charges for allegedly failing to report the alleged abuse of the Smalls' daughter to state child welfare authorities as required by law and school district policy.
Days-Chapman is a close friend of the Smalls; La'Quetta Smalls is her boss.
According to the indictment, in December the girl, who was 15 at the time, told Days-Chapman she was suffering continuous headaches from being beaten by her parents in their home.
But instead of telling authorities, Days-Chapman instead told the Smalls.
Her lawyer says she is innocent.
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