Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. was acquitted of child endangerment and related crimes Thursday after being accused of repeatedly assaulting his teenage daughter.
Small, 51, faced charges stemming from a handful of incidents in late 2023 and early 2024 in which prosecutors said he and his wife abused and assaulted the teen. The couple said the incidents stemmed from their disapproval of their daughter’s relationship with a young man, leading to escalating tension and arguments in the family home.
The jury delivered its verdict at 12 p.m. after deliberating for two days. They found Small not guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, and witness tampering.
“Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, jury!” Small said as the verdict was announced and broke into tears.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Small said he and his family were prepared to “put this chapter behind us, in peace.”
“It’s a lot of political forces out here that are against the leadership of my wife and I,” Small said. “But guess what? The people of Atlantic City want us, the people of Atlantic City need us, and the people of Atlantic City deserve us.”
Had Small been convicted of any of the crimes, he would have been required by state law to cede his office.
Those stakes were evident as the mayor’s friends and supporters packed into the courtroom for nearly two weeks of the trial. Supporters surrounded Small and broke into cheers outside the courthouse, celebrating a political career whose future had depended on the opinion of jurors.
Small said he had been heavily scrutinized for more than a year after news of the allegations broke in spring 2024. He said he and his wife had since been “drug through the mud” and cast as child abusers by the media.
Small’s defense attorney, Louis Barbone, said the verdict was “absolute proof that our justice system works” and that “honest men like Marty Small are vindicated.”
Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said he and his office “respectfully disagree with the verdict.”
“We acted based upon the complaints of the victim,” Reynolds told reporters. “The trial in this case was truly to give the victim a voice — the jury chose not to believe that voice.“
Prosecutors said Small, a Democrat who was reelected this year amid his legal struggles, punched his daughter and beat her with a belt. In an incident central to their case against the mayor, prosecutors said, Small struck her in the head with a broom multiple times, knocking her unconscious.
Jurors heard a conversation the teen recorded on her phone, in which Small told the girl he would “earth slam” her down the staircase. And prosecutors said that after the girl reported the abuse and investigators stepped in, Small encouraged his daughter to “twist up” her account of the events to minimize his involvement.
Over the course of the trial, Small and his wife, La’Quetta — who also faces charges of abusing the teen — looked on as prosecutors described the mayor’s actions as criminal. Prosecutors presented photos of the teen’s bruises and listened to testimony from a pediatrician who said the injuries did not appear accidental.
Small’s defense team, by contrast, told jurors that the teen had lied to investigators and exaggerated the extent of her injuries, and that she and her boyfriend had conspired against her father.
Barbone had called the trial “extortion by child.” He said the mayor was a caring father who was only attempting to discipline an out-of-control child, and presented jurors with more than 40 character witnesses on his behalf.
Small also testified and said he loved his daughter. He denied abusing her in the manner she described, telling jurors: “I did not hit my daughter with a broom.”
The girl, now 17, took the stand last week and described being punched in the legs by her father in his “man cave” after her parents found out she had sneaked her boyfriend into the family home to have sex.
“He said some words and put his hands on me,” the teen testified. Her father, she said, “was punching me in my legs and he hit me with a belt.”
Prosecutors said the girl’s decision to testify was one of the most challenging things a teenager could do, and they rebuffed Barbone’s suggestion that the girl was a liar who sought retribution against her politically powerful father.
As for the broom incident, Barbone said, the mayor had not hit the girl but was wrestling the broom out of her hands when she fell and hit her head.
Prosecutors showed jurors photos of marks on the girl’s face. But a nurse who treated the teen at a hospital several days after the girl complained of headaches said she had not been able to find signs of injury.
Jurors asked to review multiple pieces of evidence during their deliberation, including video of Small’s testimony about the broom incident.
Again they watched the mayor recall the morning he urged his daughter to get ready to attend a peace walk in January 2024 following a spate of killings in Atlantic City.
The teen refused, cursing at Small before ripping his shirt and throwing laundry detergent on him, the mayor testified. A scuffle broke out when she picked up a butter knife and the broom, he said.
Mentioning the hospital examination, the mayor asked: “Where is the bruise, where is the bump, where is the bleeding?”
In less than half an hour, jurors returned their verdict.
Small, in his post-verdict remarks, described his daughter as “lost” and vowed to right the course of his family life.
“I’m gonna get my daughter back,” Small said. “In the Bible, it says, ‘Father, forgive her, for she know not what she do.’ And that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Prosecutors declined to comment on what would happen to the girl, who is still a minor and does not currently live with her family.
Small’s wife, La’Quetta, is scheduled to stand trial in January on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault. La’Quetta Small, the superintendent of Atlantic City public schools, is accused of repeatedly beating her daughter.
Also facing a forthcoming trial is Constance Days-Chapman, the principal of the Smalls’ daughter’s high school. Prosecutors say when the teen reported her parents’ abuse, Days-Chapman failed to notify child welfare authorities and instead told the couple of the report.
Days-Chapman, who is Marty Small’s former campaign manager, was later charged with official misconduct and related crimes.
Reynolds, the county prosecutor, said his office would hold an internal meeting to discuss the charges against La’Quetta Small and Days-Chapman. They will also meet with the Smalls’ daughter, he said.
“We need to get the victim in here and have a discussion with her before any decisions are made — and that’s out of respect for her,” Reynolds said.
