Accusations of child abuse were brought against the Mayor of Atlantic City, Marty Small, and his wife, LaQuetta Small. As a result, the couple has been charged with abusing their teenage daughter.

Marty and LaQuetta Small were recently charged after being accused of brutally attacking the minor with a broom, punching her in the mouth, and even leaving her unconscious in one instance.

Marty Small has been serving as the Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey since 2019. He was voted into office with a unanimous 8-0 decision by the city council.

However, the Mayor’s image has recently been tarnished in the wake of disturbing allegations brought against him and his wife, which led to them being charged with abusing their teenage daughter who’s just 16 years old.

Marty and his wife, LaQuetta, were charged by the Atlantic County prosecutors on Monday 15, April 2024.
The parents were charged with abusing and assaulting their teenage daughter on multiple occasions, including hitting her in the head with a broom and knocking her unconscious.

The couple were also charged with endangering the welfare of their daughter. According to court documents, prosecutors charged the Mayor with making terroristic threats, aggravated assault, and simple assault.

LaQuetta, who serves as the Superintendent of the Atlantic City Public Schools, has been faced with three additional charges of simple assault.

According to investigators involved in the case, the attacks occurred between December 2023 and January 2024, resulting in emotional and physical harm to their young daughter.
The prosecutor’s office said in a news release that “the defendants physically and emotionally abused their 15/16-year-old daughter on multiple occasions” in December 2023 and January 2024.

According to NBC News, the daughter was only 15 when the attacks first began. The investigators revealed that the attack first began in December 2023 when the teenager was attacked with a broom.

According to investigators, there was an instance where Marty Small violently attacked his daughter by hitting her on the head with a broom, causing the young girl to lose consciousness.

Investigators have revealed that during another incident, the mayor threatened his daughter by saying he was close to “earth slamming” her down a flight of stairs.

He is also accused of punching his daughter in the leg’s multiple times, leaving bruises, and threatening to throw her down a staircase and “smack the weave out of her head”, the release said.

It has been alleged that the mother attacked the minor multiple times, including punching her in the chest, which resulted in visible bruising.

Also, LaQuetta reportedly engaged in a separate incident where she struck her child with a belt, dragged the helpless child by her hair, and even punched her in the face after a heated argument.

Reporters were able to get in touch with Marty Small over the phone, but he chose not to answer any questions. Instead, he directed their attention to his lawyer, Ed Jacobs.

Instantly, Jacobs clarified that the charges against the mayor were unrelated to any form of public corruption. He explained that the focus of the charges is not related to any misconduct in public office.

Jacobs continued to elaborate that the charges against Marty Small and his wife were solely connected to their daughter.
According to the lawyer, the charges against Marty Small and his wife are a private family matter involving the challenges they have faced while raising their teenage daughter.

“They involve a private family matter, including the challenges that Mayor Small and his wife have dealt with raising a teenage daughter”, Jacobs said.

The attorney would not address the substance of the charges regarding the couple’s interactions with their daughter.
The attorney concluded by disclosing that the daughter has not left home and is currently still residing with her parents.

It appears that despite the legal situation, the daughter remains in the care of her parents.
“This is an intact family,” Jacobs said. “She’s right where she belongs.”

At the end of March 2024, during a news conference, Marty Small and his wife shared that they had been cooperating with state child welfare authorities and insisted that their family had no secrets to hide.

They assured the public that they have been actively working with the appropriate authorities regarding their family situation.
“We’re going through family therapy, and that’s why this should be a family matter,” said Marty Small at the time.

According to a statement from Jacobs, Mayor Marty Small will continue to serve as the mayor of Atlantic City and fulfill all of his responsibilities.

“Mayor Marty Small remains the mayor in the city of Atlantic City and will continue to faithfully perform all of his duties as mayor,” Ed Jacobs, Marty’s attorney, said in a statement.
“He and his wife La’Quetta and their two children remain a close and loving and intact family,” the attorney added.

An affidavit filed in the case by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office says the girl at one point acknowledged making up the accusations against her parents because she was angry, they wouldn’t let her go out with friends.

But in many other sections, the affidavit includes detailed claims by the girl that the abuse was real, and it said she photographed bruises she said were inflicted by her parents and sent them to her boyfriend, who shared them with detectives.