NJ Mayor, Daughter Face Off In Child Abuse Trial

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ — The first week of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr.'s child abuse trial wraps up on Friday, and those who have testified so far include state investigators and Small's daughter who he is accused of physically abusing.

On Thursday, a Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) testified that Small had expressed concerns about the child abuse investigation going public and harming his political career, according to the Press of Atlantic City.

A voicemail was also played where Small told his wife "I can't take this girl no more because she will make me go to jail," according to reports.

Small also apparently told another DCPP investigator that "whatever happens in this house stays in this house" with regards to his now 17-year-old daughter, the Press of Atlantic City reported.

Small and his wife, Atlantic City School Superintendent La'Quetta Small, were charged with child abuse in 2024. The couple is accused of physically and verbally abusing their teenage daughter; the mayor is also accused of witness tampering. Both have pleaded not guilty.

The mayor is accused of threatening to hurt his daughter by "earth slamming" her down the stairs, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and smacking the weave out of her head, during an argument on Jan. 3, 2024. In another incident, he is accused of punching her repeatedly in her legs causing bruising.

He also is accused of telling his daughter to "twist up" the story and say she tripped and fell, instead of being beaten by a broom as he apparently did, according to authorities.

Small initially denied the accusations when an investigator asked him. But when she read the specifics, he slumped in his chair and stared at the ground, according to a Breaking AC report.

The daughter herself spent nearly seven hours testifying Tuesday, according to reports. She said that day, she had been arguing with her parents about not wanting to attend an event. At one point, Small pushed her in the laundry room and she threw detergent at him, according to NJ.com.

He followed her to her bedroom, where he hit her with the broom multiple times, the daughter testified.

Small's attorney said that the daughter had a butter knife in her hand before that, but she said that was a lie, according to NJ.com.

The prosecution completed its case Thursday.

Small's attorneys said that he was concerned about his daughter's relationship with her boyfriend and called it teenage rebellion, according to Action News.

He also referred to himself as "a gentle giant," Breaking AC reported.

Previous Reporting:

• Embattled NJ Mayor Wins Reelection Shortly Before Child Abuse Trial Begins
  
• Drop Child Abuse Case Against Us, NJ Mayor & Wife Say: Reports
• Atlantic City Mayor, Superintendent Indicted In Abuse Of Daughter
• Atlantic City HS Principal Who Didn't Report Child Abuse Indicted
• Atlantic City Mayor, Superintendent Abused Teen Daughter: Prosecutor