MAYS LANDING — Atlantic City’s mayor and schools superintendent left quickly for a waiting car Thursday after pleading not guilty to abusing their teenage daughter during an arraignment hearing.
Both declined to answer questions regarding the case, though Mayor Marty Small Sr. did stop while leaving the county courthouse to utter his catchphrase, “It’s a great day in the City of Atlantic City.”
Mayor Small, 50, and his wife, Superintendent La’Quetta Small, 47, are charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Mayor Small is additionally charged with terroristic threats and aggravated assault.
The Smalls have denied any wrongdoing.
This was the first time the couple have appeared in court since being charged in April. The Smalls were indicted last month. They are due back in court Jan. 16 before Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury for a status conference.
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The couple’s son, Marty Small Jr., made a brief appearance in the courtroom prior to the arraignment, wearing an Atlantic City High School football jersey. Their daughter was also at the courthouse but didn’t come in the room to watch the proceeding.
Mayor Small’s chief of staff, Atlantic County Commissioner Ernest Coursey, was the only public official to attend the hearing in support.
Following the hearing, the Smalls were escorted to a black Range Rover by members of the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office.
The Atlantic City High School principal charged with official misconduct after allegedly failing to report the abuse of the mayor and superintendent’s daughter pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Thursday morning.
Mayor Small’s attorney, Ed Jacobs, said his client was only charged because of his status.
“Today, Marty and La’Quetta Small made pleas of not guilty to the charges against them simply because they are entirely innocent,” Jacobs said in a statement. “They unfortunately wear targets on their backs because to some investigators, the high profiles earned by Marty and La’Quetta present an opportunity for a headline-grabbing investigation, even if it means meddling into personal and private family matters.”
Jacobs believes a jury will acquit his client.
“This is something no other mom or dad is ever made to suffer,” Jacobs said. “But those other moms and dads do not have the public profiles of Marty and La’Quetta. 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.”
Jacobs and Michael Schreiber, La’Quetta Small’s attorney, declined to comment further following the arraignment.
Earlier this year, the teenage daughter of Mayor and Superintendent Small told officials at Atlantic City High School she was being physically and mentally abused at home, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
The affidavit indicated the Smalls disapproved of their daughter’s boyfriend, who allegedly had audio recordings of the alleged abuse on an iPad.
Court documents say during one incident, La’Quetta Small punched her daughter multiple times on her chest, leaving bruises; dragged her daughter by her hair then struck her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks; and punched her daughter in the mouth.
During one incident, Mayor Small allegedly hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness.
In another incident, Mayor Small allegedly threatened to hurt her by “earth slamming” her down the stairs, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and “smacking the weave out of her head,” the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said.
In yet another incident, Mayor Small allegedly punched his daughter repeatedly in her legs, bruising them.
Atlantic City’s mayor and schools superintendent, who are accused of abusing their teenage daughter, are set to be arraigned Thursday.
According to a court document, Small’s daughter went to the hospital three days after the alleged broom incident for treatment of a head injury. She told the nurse she hit her head on a window and lost consciousness, and Mayor Small, who was present at the time, agreed with that version of her story.
The high school’s principal, Constance Days-Chapman, is also charged with failing to report the alleged abuse.
Days-Chapman, 39, is charged with official misconduct, pattern of official misconduct, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering apprehension.
She was arraigned Oct. 3 and is due back in court Dec. 5 for a status conference.