ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (AP) — Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife were accused Monday of repeatedly abusing and assaulting their teenage daughter, including hitting her in the head with a broom and causing her to lose consciousness.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said it filed charges against both parents for endangering the welfare of a child.
Marty Small was also charged with making terroristic threats; aggravated assault and simple assault. La’Quetta Small was also charged with three separate counts of simple assault.
The prosecution indicated in a press release that “the defendants physically and emotionally abused their 15/16 year old daughter on several occasions” in December 2023 and January 2024.
He said in one incident, Marty Small allegedly hit his daughter several times in the head with a broom, knocking her unconscious. He is also accused of hitting his daughter in the legs several times, leaving her with bruises, and of threatening to throw her down a flight of stairs and “rip the fabric off her head,” the statement said.
Atlantic City Schools Superintendent LaQuetta Small is accused of punching her daughter multiple times in the chest, leaving her with bruises, and punching her in the mouth during a separate argument. LaQuetta Small is also accused of dragging her daughter by the hair and hitting her with a belt across her shoulders, leaving marks, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Reached by phone, Small declined to comment, referring a reporter to his attorney Ed Jacobs. The attorney did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
The president and vice president of the Atlantic City school board did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Monday.
Both Smalls were summoned with the charges against them.
Earlier this month, Small held a news conference at City Hall to say a search of his home in late March involved “a private family matter,” not a crime.
Small said at the news conference that he and his wife had interacted with state child welfare authorities and had nothing to hide.
“We’re in family therapy, and that’s what it should be, a family affair,” he said.
A spokesperson for the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency said it cannot discuss its cases publicly to protect the privacy of those involved.
Small’s wife and two children attended the news conference with him, but did not speak and left before it ended.
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Follow Wayne Parry on X, formerly Twitter, at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
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