MAY LANDING, NJ — The mayor of Atlantic City and his wife, superintendent of the seaside gambling resort’s schools, pleaded not guilty Thursday to beating and abusing their teenage daughter, with an attorney saying “parenting struggles are not criminal events.”
Mayor Marty Small Sr. and La’Quetta Small, who oversee half a billion dollars in taxpayer money indicted last month on child endangerment and other charges. Prosecutors said both parents beat and emotionally abused the girl, who was 15 to 16 years old, at least once in December and January, to the point of unconsciousness.
Both are charged with child endangerment, and Marty Small, 50, also faces charges of assault and terroristic threats. Small has denied the allegations on behalf of himself and his wife, calling them a private family matter that did not constitute a crime.
Small, a Democrat, and his wife did not speak in court or outside of court afterward. The mayor’s attorney, Ed Jacobs, issued a statement calling the couple “completely innocent” parents who were targeted by prosecutors for their prominent public roles.
“The high profiles earned by Marty and La’Quetta provide an opportunity for a headline-grabbing investigation, even if it means interfering in personal and private family matters, like a father and mother doing their best to overcome the challenges of raising a teenage child,” the statement read. “We are confident that fair jurors will quickly recognize that parenting struggles are not criminal events and agree on the innocence of both Marty and La’Quetta.”
On the day he and his wife were charged, Small told The Associated Press that he wanted the facts investigated and that his daughter still lives at home.
“All people have heard is one side of the story,” he said. “We look forward to telling our side.”
Their indictment on September 17 came less than a week after the principal of Atlantic City High School was charged with counts originating from the same case. Constance Days-Chapman is accused of failing to report the abuse allegations to state child welfare authorities. She is a good friend of the Smalls and La’Quetta Small is her boss.
According to the complaint, the girl, then 15 years old, told Days-Chapman in December that her parents’ abuse gave her headaches. But instead of telling authorities, the complaint says, Days-Chapman told the Smalls.
Her lawyer says she is innocent, and she pleaded not guilty during a trial last week.
Prosecutors filed court papers in April saying the Smalls disapproved of their daughter’s boyfriend, who secretly used a video chat to record an alleged instance in which the mayor physically and verbally assaulted the girl.
According to an affidavit from prosecutors, the girl admitted at one point that she made up the allegations because she was angry that her parents wouldn’t let her go out with friends. But in other sections, the document detailed the girl’s claims that the abuse was real, saying she photographed bruises and sent them to her boyfriend, who shared them with investigators.
Prosecutor William Reynolds’ office cited evidence including recordings of interactions between the girl and her parents; her statements to police, school staff, a therapist and state child welfare investigators; and messages she sent to friends saying she didn’t feel safe at home.
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