Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, La'Quetta Small, have pleaded not guilty to charges that they physically harmed their teenage daughter on multiple occasions last winter. The couple was charged in April and formally indicted by a grand jury last month.
Marty Small, a Democrat who has been in office since 2019, and his wife entered their pleas at an arraignment hearing Thursday in Mays Landing. They face charges of child endangerment, assault and terroristic threats.
Atlantic County prosecutors allege Marty Small, 50, beat his 16-year-old daughter with a broomstick, slammed her down the stairs and punched her repeatedly during arguments at the family's home in December and January. La'Quetta Small, 47, allegedly punched her daughter in the chest, dragged her by the hair, hit her with a belt and struck her in the face during other incidents.
In court documents, prosecutors claimed the arguments stemmed from the Smalls having issues with their daughter's boyfriend, the Associated Press reported. The boyfriend provided prosecutors with evidence including videos and photos of some of the alleged arguments, abuse and bruises left on the girl.
The mayor's attorney, Ed Jacobs, called the case a "headline-grabbing" investigation motivated by his clients' high-profile status and said prosecutors are "meddling into personal and private family matters."
"We are confident that fair-minded jurors will quickly see that parenting struggles are not criminal events, and will agree on the innocence of both Marty and La’Quetta," Jacobs said in a statement.
After county prosecutors served a search warrant at the Smalls' home in late March, the mayor held a press conference and suggested there could be "political and racial motivations" behind the investigation. Small is not charged with any crimes related to his duties as mayor.
Small's former campaign manager, Constance Days-Chapman, also is charged with failure to report child abuse, obstruction of justice and related offenses for allegedly choosing not to inform the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency after the Smalls' daughter disclosed the abuse to her. Days-Chapman is the principal of Atlantic City High School, where the Smalls' daughter is a student. Days-Chapman pleaded not guilty at her arraignment last week.
A spokesperson for New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told Politico the governor believes Small should "consider whether he can continue effectively serving the people of Atlantic City as Mayor," although Murphy acknowledged Small is entitled to due process.
Small has continued to appear at public events in the weeks since the indictment, including at a press conference about the planned reopening of the Atlantic City Aquarium late last month. Next year will be the last of his current term.