Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small (D) and his wife, La’Quetta Small, have been charged with child endangerment, assault, and making terroristic threats. On Monday, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office reported the couple stands accused of physically and emotionally abusing their teenage daughter. Prosecutors allege the incidents occurred between December 2023 and January 2024.
The prominent New Jersey Democrat allegedly beat his daughter with a broom to the point of rendering her unconscious. He is additionally accused of inflicting bruising through repeated punches and threatening to throw her down a staircase. La’Quetta Small — the city’s superintendent of schools — has been accused of striking her daughter with a belt and dragging her by her hair.
“PRIVATE FAMILY ISSUE.”
During a news conference earlier this month, Small claimed the police search was related to a “private family issue.” The Democrat mayor downplayed any criminal concerns. He told the press, “if I wasn’t Mayor Marty Small or she [his wife] wasn’t the superintendent, you wouldn’t hear of this.”
“There’s no corruption. We don’t have Atlantic City Housing Authority money in our house,” Mayor Small said during the press conference, apparently attempting to deflect from rumors the police search involved accusations of child abuse. He continued: “We don’t have city of Atlantic City money in our house. I didn’t steal anything. My wife didn’t bring Atlantic City Board of Education money to our house, as alleged.”
ACCUSATIONS OF ELECTION FRAUD.
Small was appointed mayor in 2019 after former Mayor Frank Gilliam resigned. Gilliam had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a scheme to steal $86,000 from a youth basketball team. Small was charged with election fraud in 2006 and 2011; however, the charges were eventually dropped in both instances.
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