The mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and his wife were indicted Tuesday on charges related to allegations of abuse of their teenage daughter.
Prosecutors alleged that abuse occurred in December and January. Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, La’Quetta Small, are accused of physically and emotionally abusing the girl “on multiple occasions” when she was 15 and 16 years old, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said in a news release Wednesday.
The mayor’s office directed questions to his attorney, Ed Jacobs. Jacobs did not immediately respond to questions; he has said the Smalls are “completely innocent of any wrongdoing and will ultimately be vindicated,” according to NBC Philadelphia. Jacobs told the station Wednesday that it was a private issue within the family and that it had nothing to do with mayoral misconduct.
The mayor is accused of hitting his daughter “multiple times in the head with a broom causing her to lose consciousness” on Jan. 13, the news release says. Prosecutors alleged that another incident occurred on Jan. 3, saying the mayor threatened his daughter during an argument.
Mayor Small, 50, is alleged to have told the girl that he would slam her down the stairs, grab her head and throw her to the ground, and smack “the weave out of her head,” the release says. Prosecutors also accused him of “punching his daughter repeatedly in her legs causing bruising” another time.
The mayor’s wife, who is the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools, is alleged to have hit the girl on several occasions.
“It is alleged that La’Quetta Small, during one incident, punched her daughter multiple times on her chest leaving bruising. Another incident alleged that La’Quetta Small dragged her daughter by her hair then struck her with a belt on her shoulders leaving marks,” prosecutors said in the news release. “Another incident alleged that La’Quetta Small punched her daughter in the mouth during an argument.”
The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The allegations surfaced after the Small’s daughter told an employee at her high school that she had been hit with a broom and passed out, according to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC Philadelphia. The girl spoke to the employee after students in a mental health training exercise were given an “exit ticket” that included faces representing “happy,” “sad” and “neutral.”
The girl circled the neutral face and wrote on the back “abuse” and that she would “like a counselor,” the complaint says.
The girl’s boyfriend provided investigators with video clips showing her with scratches, swelling, bruises and hair loss, NBC Philadelphia reported. He reportedly told investigators that he initially had a good relationship with the Smalls.
Medical records belonging to the girl showed that she was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 16 for a head injury she sustained three days earlier, the station reported. The teen is alleged to have told hospital staff members that she had hit her head on a window while she was playing with her younger brother and passed out. Mayor Small was with her at the time and told the nurse the same story, according to NBC Philadelphia.
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