The mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and his wife were indicted on Tuesday on charges relating to the alleged mistreatment of their teenage daughter.
Prosecutors claimed that abuse occurred in December and January. Mayor Marty Small Sr. and his wife, La’Quetta Small, are accused of physically and emotionally abusing the girl “on multiple occasions” between the ages of 15 and 16, according to an Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office news release issued Wednesday.
The mayor’s office referred queries to his attorney, Ed Jacobs. Jacobs did not immediately reply to queries, but he has stated that the Smalls are “completely innocent of any wrongdoing and will ultimately be vindicated,” according to NBC Philadelphia. Jacobs told the station Wednesday that it was a family problem and had nothing to do with mayoral misbehavior.
The mayor is accused of beating his daughter “multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness” on January 13, according to a news release. Prosecutors claimed that another incident occurred on January 3, when the mayor threatened his daughter during an argument.
Mayor Small, 50, is accused of telling the girl that he would push her down the stairs, grab her head and hurl her to the ground, and smack “the weave out of her head,” according to the release. Prosecutors also accused him of “punching his daughter repeatedly in the legs, causing bruising” on another occasion.
The mayor’s wife, the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools, is accused of hitting the girl multiple times.
“La’Quetta Small is accused of punching her daughter many times on the chest, causing bruises. Another incident said that La’Quetta Small dragged her daughter by her hair and beat her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks,” authorities stated in a news release. “Another incident alleged that La’Quetta Small punched her daughter in the mouth during an argument.”
The school district did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The claims came after the Smalls’ daughter told a high school employee that she had been beaten with a broom and passed out, according to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC Philadelphia. The youngster approached the employee after pupils in a mental health training activity received a “exit ticket” with faces signifying “happy,” “sad,” and “neutral.”
The girl circled the neutral face and wrote on the reverse “abuse” and that she would “like a counselor,” according to the lawsuit.
The girl’s boyfriend gave investigators video footage of her with scrapes, swelling, bruises, and hair loss, according to NBC Philadelphia. He reportedly told investigators that he initially had a positive relationship with the Smalls.
According to the station, the girl’s medical records show that she was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 16 for a head injury sustained three days earlier. The adolescent is accused of telling hospital workers that she struck her head on a window while playing with her younger brother and passed out. NBC Philadelphia reports that Mayor Small was with her at the time and told the nurse the same tale.
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