Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small acquitted of all child abuse charges

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A jury has acquitted Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. of all charges in his child abuse trial after more than two days of deliberations.

The mayor thanked the jury, his family and supporters as he left the courthouse.

“There’s not one day that I turned around and there wasn’t a lot of people here supporting us,” the mayor said. “Today, I thank God — who’s first in my life — and we give him all the glory for this victory.”

Prosecutors alleged that Small and his wife — Atlantic City schools superintendent La’Quetta Small — physically attacked their teenage daughter in incidents that took place in December 2023 and January 2024. The girl’s boyfriend recorded the incidents.

They were charged more than a year ago with endangering the welfare of a child, terroristic threats and aggravated assault. The mayor was formally indicted later on second- and third-degree felonies. He was also accused of asking his daughter to recant her claims of child abuse. La’Quetta Small’s trial is scheduled for next year.

He has maintained his innocence since his home was searched in March 2024. A week later, the mayor and his attorney, Edwin Jacobs, said the search was part of an investigation by the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office stemming from “a personal and emotional family matter within the Small household.”

The case also included Constance Days-Chapman, the principal at Atlantic City High School, who was charged with failing to report child abuse. Days-Chapman is a political ally of Marty Small.

After his reelection in November, Small continued to say that the charges against him and his wife were politically driven.

“There’s a lot of political forces out here that are against the leadership of my wife and I,” he said in November. “But guess what? The people of Atlantic City want us.”