NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said on Monday that it filed child abuse charges against Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife.
Prosecutors say both Marty and his wife, Atlantic City School Superintendent La’Quetta Small, violently abused their 16-year-old daughter numerous times in December 2023 and January 2024.
Investigators say Marty Small knocked her unconscious after multiple strikes to the head with a broomstick. He allegedly also punched her legs, causing bruises. During another argument, he allegedly threatened to hurt her by “earth slamming her down the stairs, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and smacking the weave out of her head,” prosecutors said.
La’Quetta Small is accused of punching her daughter in the face and chest and hitting her with a belt.
Marty Small had his family by his side on April 1 when he publicly responded to reports of a warrant served at his house a few days prior. He said his family is going through challenging personal matters and they are in therapy.
His attorney, Ed Jacobs, issued a statement on behalf of the mayor, claiming prosecutors are attempting to second-guess the Smalls’ personal parenting decisions. The statement reads in full:
On March 28, 2024, 20 armed law enforcement officers swarmed the residence of Mayor Marty Small and his wife Superintendent of Schools LaQuetta Small. They executed multiple search warrants upon the Mayor, his wife, their vehicles and their home. This public display of force strongly suggested an investigation into serious criminal conduct within City Hall.
On April 1, 2024, I convened a press conference attended by Mayor Small and his entire family. We made two points clear about the investigation of the Atlantic County Prosecutor:
1. It was not about public corruption or misconduct in office, because there is none. Mayor Small’s administration is as clean as the proverbial whistle, top to bottom And
2. It was a misguided attempt to micro manage very private and personal family matters including challenges facing parents attempting to properly raise a teenage child.
The criminal complaints filed by the Atlantic County Prosecutor on April 15, 2024 prove us correct on both points. First, these complaints make absolutely no allegation of any type of public corruption or misconduct in office against Mayor Small or his administration. Second, these complaints focus exclusively on private family matters, basically attempting to second guess parental decisions of Mayor Small and his wife LaQuetta.
These complaints were issued on summonses; that means no arrests were made and no bails were set. Mayor Marty Small remains the Mayor in the City of Atlantic City and will continue to faithfully perform all of his duties as Mayor. And he and his wife LaQuetta and their two children remain a close and loving and intact family. Mayor Small and Superintendent LaQuetta Small are completely innocent of any wrongdoing and will ultimately be vindicated.