Indictment: NJ power couple punched, beat and knocked out child with broom

🔴 Mayor and schools superintendent wife indicted

🔴 Power couple accused of abusing teen

🔴 Both deny allegations

 ATLANTIC CITY — The mayor of and his wife — who is the superintendent of the city school district — have been indicted on charges of child abuse, months after their arrests in a case that also ensnared a school principal.

Marty Small Sr. and 47-year-old La’Quetta Small were both indicted with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. The 50-year-old mayor was also indicted with third-degree counts of terroristic threats and aggravated assault.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office has said that the incidents of abuse involving the now 16-year-old girl happened between December 2023 and January 2024.

Their daughter told police she had been punched, hit and struck repeatedly by her parents — once to the point of losing consciousness.

Alleged abuse of the teen includes:
🔺 Being hit in the head with a broom until losing consciousness

🔺 Threats of being “earth slammed” down the stairs, head grabbed and thrown to the ground, having hair extensions smacked loose

🔺Repeated punches in the legs and chest, causing bruises

🔺 Being punched in the mouth during an argument

🔺Being dragged by her hair and hit with a belt, leaving marks

SEE ALSO: NJ principal indicted for failing to report child abuse

In a related case, the 39-year-old principal of Atlantic City High School was indicted on charges of repeatedly failing to report a student’s abuse at home.

Officials have said Constance Days-Chapman met with the parents — revealed as Marty Small Sr. and La’Quetta Small — as part of a cover-up.

Anyone with potential information was asked to call the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-909-7800 or go to the Prosecutor’s Office’s Website at ACPO.

Any concerned person can report suspicions of child abuse or neglect by calling their local police department or call the Child Abuse Hotline at 877-NJ-ABUSE / 877-652-2873.

New Jersey 101.5 has a policy to not identify domestic violence victims or juveniles, including by revealing their relationship to a criminal defendant, but the high-profile positions of an elected city leader and a public school superintendent make that difficult in this case.

After law enforcement descended on the couple's home in April, the mayor brought his children before cameras in a news conference to protest his innocence.

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