Current:Home > ScamsAtlantic City mayor and his wife plead not guilty to beating their daughter -MarketStream
Atlantic City mayor and his wife plead not guilty to beating their daughter
View
Date:2025-04-16 06:27:20
MAYS LANDING, N.J. (AP) — The mayor of Atlantic City and his wife, who is the seaside gambling resort’s schools superintendent, pleaded not guilty Thursday to beating and abusing their teenage daughter, with a lawyer saying that “parenting struggles are not criminal events.”
Mayor Marty Small Sr. and La’Quetta Small, who oversee a half-billion dollars in taxpayer money, were indicted last month on child endangerment and other charges. Prosecutors said both parents hit and emotionally abused the girl, who was 15 to 16 years old, in December and January, at least once to the point of unconsciousness.
Both are charged with child endangerment, and Marty Small, 50, is also charged with assault and terroristic threats. Small has denied the charges 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 afterward. The mayor’s lawyer, Ed Jacobs, issued a statement calling the couple “entirely innocent” parents targeted by prosecutors for their prominent public roles.
“The high profiles earned by Marty and La’Quetta present an opportunity for a headline-grabbing investigation, even if that means meddling into personal and private family matters such as a mom and dad doing their best to manage the challenges of raising a teenage child,” the statement read. “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.”
On the day he and his wife were indicted, Small told The Associated Press that he was eager to have the facts examined and that his daughter continues to live at home.
“All people have heard is one side of the story,” he said. “We look forward to telling our side.”
Their indictment Sept. 17 came less than a week after the principal of Atlantic City High School was charged with counts stemming from the same case. Constance Days-Chapman is accused of failing to report the abuse allegations to state child welfare authorities. She is a close friend of the Smalls, and La’Quetta Small is her boss.
According to the indictment, in December the girl, who was 15 at the time, told Days-Chapman she was suffering headaches from beatings by her parents. But instead of telling authorities, the indictment says, Days-Chapman instead told the Smalls.
Her lawyer says she is innocent, and she pleaded not guilty at a court appearance last week.
Prosecutors filed court documents in April saying the Smalls disapproved of their daughter’s boyfriend, who secretly used a video chat to record an alleged instance of the mayor physically and verbally assaulting the girl.
An affidavit from prosecutors says the girl at one point acknowledged making up the accusations because she was angry her parents wouldn’t let her go out with friends. But in other sections, the document includes detailed claims by the girl that the abuse was real, and it said she photographed bruises and sent them to her boyfriend, who shared them with detectives.
The office of prosecutor William Reynolds cited evidence including recordings of interactions between the girl and her parents; her statements to police, school workers, a therapist and state child welfare investigators; and messages she sent to friends saying she did not feel safe at home.
___
Follow Wayne Parry on X at www.twitter.com/WayneParryAC
veryGood! (2)
Related
- USA women's basketball live updates at Olympics: Start time vs Nigeria, how to watch
- Mark Cuban working on $3.5B sale of Dallas Mavericks to Sands casino family, AP source says
- Horoscopes Today, November 28, 2023
- A judge awards Aretha Franklin's properties to her sons, citing a handwritten will
- 51-year-old Andy Macdonald puts on Tony Hawk-approved Olympic skateboard showing
- It's peak shopping — and shoplifting — season. Cops are stepping up antitheft tactics
- Tina Knowles defends Beyoncé against 'racist statements' about 'Renaissance' premiere look
- Writer John Nichols, author of ‘The Milagro Beanfield War’ with a social justice streak, dies at 83
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Australia apologizes for thalidomide tragedy as some survivors listen in the Parliament gallery
Ranking
- FBI: California woman brought sword, whip and other weapons into Capitol during Jan. 6 riot
- Dakota Johnson Shares How Chris Martin Helps Her When She’s Struggling
- Savannah Guthrie announces 'very personal' faith-based book 'Mostly What God Does'
- Celebrate the Holidays With These “Up and Coming” Gift Ideas From Real Housewives' Jessel Taank
- Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
- Busch Gardens sinkhole spills millions of gallons of wastewater, environmental agency says
- Kansas unveiled a new blue and gold license plate. People hated it and now it’s back to square 1
- In California, Farmers Test a Method to Sink More Water into Underground Stores
Recommendation
2024 Olympics: Gymnast Ana Barbosu Taking Social Media Break After Scoring Controversy
UN warns that gang violence is overwhelming Haiti’s once peaceful central region
iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy Details Past Pregnancy Scare
Rosalynn Carter honored in service attended by Jimmy Carter
Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
Embattled Oregon school district in court after parents accuse it of violating public meetings law
Florida elections security chief lay dead for 24 minutes without help outside Gov. DeSantis' office
Georgia’s state taxes at fuel pumps to resume as Brian Kemp’s tax break ends, at least for now