Atlantic City Mayor and wife face allegations of physically abusing their daughter. The couple stands accused of intimidating and inflicting harm upon their adolescent child, sparking concern and scrutiny within the community.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife LaQuetta Small were charged with endangering the welfare of a child on April 15, 2024. The couple allegedly assaulted their teenage daughter on multiple occasions, including hitting her in the head with a broom and knocking her unconscious.
The charges against Marty also include making terroristic threats, aggravated assault, and simple assault. LaQuetta faces three counts of simple assault. The alleged abuse occurred between December 2023 and January 2024.
According to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office, Marty Small, 50, and LaQuetta Small, 47, were charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Marty was also charged with third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree aggravated assault, and disorderly persons simple assault. LaQuetta, who serves as Atlantic City’s superintendent of schools, faces three separate counts of disorderly persons simple assault.
The charges stem from alleged incidents of abuse that occurred between December 2023 and January 2024. During one incident, Marty allegedly hit his daughter multiple times with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness. In another incident, he allegedly repeatedly punched his daughter in the legs, causing bruising. The prosecutor’s office also claimed that Marty continuously threatened to hurt his daughter during one argument, threatening to “earth slam” her down the stairs and grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground.
Marty’s attorney, Edwin Jacobs, stated that the matter “has absolutely nothing to do with any improprieties in the mayor’s office.” He described it as a “private family matter, including the challenges that Mayor Small and his wife have dealt with raising a teenage daughter.”
Jacobs also emphasized that the couple’s daughter had not been removed from their home, saying, “This is an intact family. She’s right where she belongs.”
The investigation into the Small family began in late January after their teenage daughter wrote the word “abuse” during a mental health activity in school and expressed a desire to speak with a counselor. The daughter then detailed the abuse to a staff member at her high school, who referred her to the principal. The principal subsequently made a report to the Department of Child Protection & Permanency (DCP&P). The teen also allegedly shared with a therapist during a telehealth session around that time that her parents had been physically and emotionally abusing her and cited three separate incidents.
On March 28, Small’s home was searched, and a few days later, the family attended a news conference in which he said he “had nothing to hide.” He stated, “We’re going through family therapy, and that’s what this should be, a family matter.” The prosecutor’s office, however, has taken a different view, charging the couple with serious offenses related to the alleged abuse of their daughter.
“We’re going through family therapy, and that’s what this should be, a family matter,” he said during the press conference, per the AP.
The case has raised concerns about the welfare of the Small’s daughter and the potential consequences for the mayor and his wife. As the investigation continues, the community is left wondering how such alleged abuse could have occurred, especially given the couple’s prominent roles in the city’s government and education system. The charges against Marty and LaQuetta Small serve as a stark reminder that even those in positions of power can face serious allegations and consequences for their actions.
