Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, schools superintendent La’Quetta Small, plead not guilty to child abuse charges

MAYS LANDING, N.J. — The mayor of Atlantic City and his wife, the superintendent of schools, pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the alleged physical and emotional abuse of their teenaged daughter in a joint three-minute arraignment.

Mayor Marty Small Sr. greeted supporters in the courtroom with a smile, but then stood grim-faced during the arraignment, with his wife, La’Quetta Small, standing on the other side of an attorney.

Their son made a brief appearance in the courtroom wearing an Atlantic City football uniform but was not present during the hearing. Their daughter also accompanied them to the courthouse but did not enter the courtroom itself, according to a family associate.

Their attorneys, Ed Jacobs and Michael Schreiber, entered the not-guilty pleas for them. The Smalls did not speak during the hearing.

Leaving the courthouse, Marty Small did not respond to questions about whether he should remain in office, a question New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy last month suggested he should be considering. La’Quetta Small also did not respond to questions about whether she should continue serving as superintendent of schools.

After the hearing, the mayor only said his standard hype line for the city as he walked down the steps of the courthouse: “It’s a great day in the City of Atlantic City.”

Also attending the hearing was Atlantic County Commissioner Ernest Coursey, who serves as the mayor’s chief of staff.

Jacobs handed out a statement that said the couple was “entirely innocent.”

“Both are highly educated and successful professionals who are respected members of our community,” the statement read. Their high-profile jobs means that they “wear targets on their backs,” and “present an opportunity for a headline grabbing investigation.”

The statement continued: “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.”

Judge Bernard DeLury scheduled a status hearing for Jan. 16. Both 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.

The charges stem from “multiple occasions” in December and January when “the defendants physically and emotionally abused their 15/16-year-old daughter,” according to prosectuors.

In one incident, on Jan. 13, the mayor is alleged to have 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.

Prosecutors allege that La’Quetta Small once punched her daughter multiple times on her chest, leaving bruising. 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.

Marty Small has repeatedly stated that the charges are not related to his duties as mayor and disregarded calls to resign. “This is a family matter that turned political that went public,” he said following the indictment last month. “It has nothing to do with my job. That’s that.”

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 the Smalls’ daughter told her about the alleged incidents in school.

Jacobs has also reiterated that the charges have nothing to do with Marty Small’s official duties. “The indictment against Mayor Small does not allege any type of official corruption, any misconduct within the mayor’s office or City Hall,” he said following the indictment. He contended that the charges concerned a “disagreement” in a “private domestic matter,” something the county prosecutor typically would not get involved in.

“The Atlantic County prosecutor is second-guessing how this mom and dad choose to raise one of their teenaged kids,” Jacobs said.