Prosecutors move to drop child abuse charges against Atlantic City superintendent

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Prosecutors have filed to drop child abuse charges against Atlantic City schools superintendent La’Quetta Small, less than a month after a jury acquitted her husband, Mayor Marty Small Sr.

In a statement released late Friday, Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said that after reviewing the situation with their daughter, who did not want to further pursue the charges against her mother, the office chose to drop the case against La’Quetta Small.

The office is also seeking to dismiss charges against Constance Days-Chapman, the Atlantic City high school principal who was accused of not reporting the alleged abuse.

Reynolds said in a statement that the decision was made in light of Marty Small’s previous acquittal and “in an attempt to not revictimize” their daughter.

“Just last week the victim received a threat, racial in tone, on one of her social media accounts pertaining to her accusations she made against her father,” Reynolds wrote. “While we actively investigate this threat, we believe it is no longer in her best interest both emotionally and perhaps even physically for us to continue with our cases against La’Quetta Small and Constance Days-Chapman at this time.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, La’Quetta Small’s attorney, Michael Schreiber, said he was pleased by the office’s decision to dismiss and added that the matter should be handled by counselors or in family court.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday whether the court had ruled on the filing to dismiss.