Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small found not guilty in child abuse trial
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small was found not guilty after a verdict was reached in the child abuse trial, following a week of testimony and evidence presented to a jury.
The 51-year-old Democrat faced charges of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree terroristic threats, third-degree aggravated assault, and disorderly persons simple assault.
NBC10 was in the courtroom as Small was acquitted on all charges. He cried and yelled, “Thank you, Jesus.”
“The entire Atlantic City was on trial and this was a win for everyone. But most importantly, not only I, but my wife and Mandy have been dragged through the mud for nonsense. And today I thank god, who is first in my life, and I give him all the glory,” said Small after the verdict was reached.
Small and his wife, La’Quetta Small, a 48-year-old superintendent of the Atlantic City Public School system, were charged with physically and emotionally abusing their then-15-year-old daughter on multiple occasions between late 2023 and early 2024.
According to NBC10’s news gathering partner, KYW Newsradio, during closing arguments, both the defense and prosecution asked the jury to believe their version of the story and accused the other side of lying.
During the trial, Small’s daughter, now 17, testified that her father hit her with a broom and knocked her unconscious, leaving her hospitalized. She also claimed that her father punched her in the legs and hit her with a belt, and her mother beat her in her grandmother’s bedroom.
“The defendant, he’s the mayor of Atlantic City. He is powerful. He is in control; people believe him because of the position of power he is in in that city,” one of the prosecutors told the jury.
When Small took the stand, he appeared emotional at the beginning of his testimony and said that he and his daughter had a close relationship for years.
“She meant the world to me and I would do anything to protect her,” Small said. “I was her best friend and she was my best friend.”
The mayor went on to say that things changed as his daughter got involved with her boyfriend.
“The way he was talking to her, he controlled her mind,” Small claimed while on the stand.
Mayor Small described derogatory things and the orders that he said he saw in messages from her boyfriend on his daughter’s cell phone.
He also said that his daughter got upset when her parents took away her phone and in one incident, he said that she bit his hand.
The mayor denied the allegations that he beat his daughter with a broom.
“I did not hit my daughter with a broom. I did not hit my daughter with a bristle,” he said on the stand.
Small described the incident, saying that his daughter threw detergent at him and later picked up a butter knife.
“If it was a butter knife, a plastic knife or bat, no child should wave an object at their parent,” he said.
He also explained how they struggled with a broom and said his daughter fell and hit her head.
At the end of his testimony, Mayor Small appeared to become emotional again and explained why he wanted to testify.
“I wanted to look each and every one of you in the eye the entire time and tell you the claims were bogus,” Small said.
The prosecution showed photos of physical abuse to the daughter’s body, according to KYW Newsradio. However, the defense said multiple medical exams showed no evidence of abuse and that a parent’s threats of violence do not equate to abuse.
La’Quetta Small will go on trial next year on second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and disorderly persons simple assault. She has been accused of dragging the teen by her hair, punching her in the chest and face, and hitting her with a belt.
