A.C. principal indicted on more charges for not reporting alleged abuse of the mayor’s daughter

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Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman is facing additional charges for not reporting the alleged abuse committed by Mayor Marty Small Sr. and Dr. La’Quetta Small, superintendent of city schools, on their teenage daughter.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday that a grand jury indicted Days-Chapman on five counts of second-degree official misconduct, one count of second-degree pattern of official misconduct, one count of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and one count of third degree hindering apprehension of another.

Days-Chapman was charged earlier this year with misconduct and failing to report child abuse.

According to prosecutors, the 15-year-old victim informed Days-Chapman in December 2023 that she was suffering from “continuous headaches due to being hit by her parents at home.”

As a school employee, Days-Chapman is required by New Jersey law to report the abuse to the Department of Child Protection and Permanency and law enforcement.

On Jan. 22, the victim told another school employee about the alleged abuse and that she informed Days-Chapman, prosecutors wrote, who denied to the staff member that she was informed.

Both the staffer and an eyewitness to the conversation allegedly believed that Days-Chapman was going to report it. The eyewitness even told Days-Chapman that they would call the child protection agency, prosecutors said. But Days-Chapman insisted that she was going to contact the agency, according to prosecutors.

Later that day, Days-Chapman allegedly met the Smalls in her car, outside their home and alerted them about the reporting.

Authorities said they were not notified about the abuse until a “non-school entity” called a hotline on Jan. 24.

Mayor Small and La’Quetta Small were charged in April for endangering the welfare of a child among other charges.

During a news conference following a search on their home, Mayor Small, with his family – including his daughter, denied the abuse. Small further suggested that the search warrant was racially and politically motivated.

“There is an old adage in the practice of law that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich,” said Ed Jacobs, the attorney representing the mayor and his wife, referring to  grand juries as “rubber stamps for prosecutors.”

“It’s an old adage because it’s true,” he said. “If this tactic of indicting the principal is intended to influence Mayor Small’s decision to defend himself, it will fail.”