Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small pleads not guilty to witness tampering charges in child abuse case involving his daughter
Mayor Marty Small and his wife, La'Quetta Small, are also charged in connection with the alleged abuse of their teenaged daughter.
MAYS LANDING — Charges of child abuse involving his daughter continue to follow Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr., who pleaded not guilty Thursday to a related charge of witness tampering.
Small was charged in November with allegedly asking his daughter to lie about a head injury.
The charge is in addition to previous charges of child endangerment, assault, and terroristic threats. His wife, La’Quetta Small, who is superintendent of Atlantic City public schools, is also charged in connection with child endangerment.
Marty Small was in court Thursday for an arraignment on the witness tampering charge, and both Smalls were there for a status hearing on the original charges.
Prosecutors said Small allegedly asked his daughter to “do him a favor” and “twist up” the story she had previously told police about alleged abuse allegations she made against him, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
Both Marty and La’Quetta Small appeared in court Thursday for a status hearing on the original charges. The next court date was set for Feb. 24. They have previously pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Both declined to comment on questions of whether they should stay in their powerful jobs. Marty Small’s attorney handed reporters a statement saying Small was “completely innocent” of the witness tampering charge.
“A father who explains to his child the value of being truthful is only ‘guilty’ of good parenting, not witness tampering,” the statement said.
On Thursday, assistant Atlantic County prosecutor Elizabeth Fischer told Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury that “video surveillance” from the courthouse would be part of the discovery in the witness tampering case.
The original child abuse charges stem from “multiple occasions” in December 2023 and January 2024 when “the defendants physically and emotionally abused their 15/16-year-old daughter,” according to prosecutors.
Both Marty and La’Quetta Small were charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Marty Small is also charged with charged with third-degree terroristic threats and third-degree aggravated assault.
In one incident, prosecutors allege Marty Small hit his daughter in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness. Another incident involved him punching his daughter repeatedly in her legs, leaving her bruised, prosecutors said. In another, they said, Small argued with his daughter, then grabbed her head and threw her to the ground, while threatening to throw her down the stairs.
Small has denied the charges and said the incident was a result of normal “parenting struggles” and was a family matter that turned political. He has said the family has continued to work through their issues. Unlike the last court appearance, their two children, who are both minors, were not present in the courthouse on Thursday.
Prosecutors allege that La’Quetta Small once punched her daughter multiple times in the chest, leaving her bruised. She is also accused of dragging her daughter by her hair and striking her with a belt in one incident, and punching her daughter in the mouth during an argument in another.
The principal of Atlantic City High School, Constance Days-Chapman, a family friend, has also been indicted related to her failure to report the child abuse to state authorities after Smalls’ daughter told her about the alleged incidents in school, prosecutors said. The allegations came to light after a “nonschool entity” called a hotline, prosecutors have said.
Gov. Phil Murphy, whose administration has control over city operations under a takeover agreement, has said Small should consider whether the charges interfere with his ability to do his job as mayor.
Asked about Murphy’s comments after the court hearing, Small said the governor hadn’t suggested he should consider resigning.