The mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey and his wife are facing accusations of physically and emotionally abusing their teen daughter.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Apr. 15 that Marty Small Sr. and his wife La’Quetta are being charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Small has additional charges of third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree aggravated assault, and disorderly persons simple assault. La’Quetta, the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools, also faces charges of disorderly person’s simple assault.
Investigators alleged the minor sustained physical and emotional abuse from her parents on several occasions between December 2023 and January 2024 at just 15 and 16 years old. On one account, the mayor allegedly struck his daughter in the head several times with a broom, resulting in her losing consciousness.
There was another alleged incident where, during an argument, Small threatened to hurt his daughter by “earth-slamming” her down the stairs and grabbing her head, pulling the weave out of her head. He’s also being accused of punching his daughter in her legs repeatedly, causing bruising.
During another alleged incident, the mother dragged her daughter by her hair and hit her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving gruesome marks. While arguing, she allegedly punched her daughter in the mouth.
Speculations of abuse started following a mental health training for students at Atlantic City High School in January 2024, according to NBC 10. Students were given “exit tickets” with three faces representing “happy,” “neutral,” and “sad,” and each student was instructed to circle one face representing their feelings. Small’s daughter circled the neutral face and wrote “abuse” and expressed her desire to speak to a counselor on the back.
A school employee then gave the ticket to one of the mental health trainers, prompting the police to get involved. When the teen told detectives about the broom incident, she described her father as a “big guy” and said she wanted to continue with her life, investigators reported.
The teen mentioned she had already spoken with the principal, Constance Days-Chapman. After officers approached the administrator, she said the teen never mentioned the alleged abuse; otherwise, she would have reported it to the Department of Child Protection & Permanency (DCP&P).
Later in the day, during a virtual session with her therapist, the teen confessed that her parents were physically and emotionally abusing her.
“I was really stressed, I was crying a lot, I wasn’t mentally stable, I wasn’t comfortable around them, I just didn’t feel safe.”
Mayor Small’s home was searched on Mar. 28 due to the allegations, but during a news conference on Apr. 1, attended by Smalls and their daughter, the mayor said he had “nothing to hide.”
The couple refused to comment on the charges; however, the family attorney, Ed Jacobs, released a statement stating that the charges do not correlate with position misconduct.
“The charges filed by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office today make no claims of public corruption or misconduct in office or any failure by Mayor Small to properly discharge his responsibilities as the mayor of Atlantic City,” Jacobs said.
“On the contrary, they focus only on personal, private family matters.”
