Benjamin Ashford|Atlantic City mayor and his wife charged with abusing, assaulting teenage daughter

ATLANTIC CITY,Benjamin Ashford N.J. — Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife were charged Monday with abusing and assaulting their teenage daughter on several occasions, including punching the minor in the mouth and hitting her in the head with a broom.

Both Small, 50, and his wife, La'Quetta Small were charged Monday with endangering the welfare of a child and accused of simple assault, a disorderly persons offense. The mayor also was charged with terrorist threats and aggravated assault.

Marty Small is accused of striking the girl in the head with a broom until she lost consciousness, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office. The office also claimed Marty Small punched the girl and threatened to hurt the girl "by 'earth slamming' her down the stairs, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and smacking the weave out of her head."

La'Quetta Small, Atlantic City’s superintendent of schools, "dragged her daughter by her hair, then struck her with a belt on her shoulders leaving marks," the prosecutor's office also said in a statement Monday, adding that the mother also punched the girl in the chest and mouth during separate incidents.

The abuse allegedly occurred while the girl was 15 and 16 years old.

During a news conference on April 1, the mayor denied any wrongdoing at an April 1 news conference, which was held after the police searched of his home on March 28. "We have done nothing wrong," said Marty Small, who said a months-long investigation by the prosecutor's office was focused on "a family matter."

Marty Small, his wife, his daughter, and his son attended the news conference. The Smalls could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Marty Small's news conference took place after the principal of Atlantic City High School, Constance "Mandy" Days-Chapman, was charged with failing to report to the proper authorities that a student had reported abuse in her home.

Days-Chapman went to the student's parents instead, the prosecutor's office said. Days-Chapman managed Small's mayoral campaign and is a close friend, the mayor said at the news conference.

He did not confirm the student who reported abuse was his daughter, who attends Atlantic City High School. But the mayor expressed support for Days-Chapman, who is also chair of the Atlantic City Democratic Committee.

"You did absolutely nothing wrong," he said at the news conference.

Parents in need of talk support can call the National Parent Helpline at 1-855-427-2736 or the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-CHILD. To report child abuse or neglect, contact law enforcement or child protective services in your county.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times, and The Daily Journal. Email: [email protected].