Atlantic City mayor accused of asking daughter to say he didn’t hurt her

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The mayor of Atlantic City, already accused of abusing his teenage daughter, now faces a new allegation that he asked her to lie about how she suffered a head injury.

Marty Small Sr., 50, was charged Monday with witness tampering in the case of a girl he and his wife La’Quetta – a school superintendent at a New Jersey seaside gambling resort – were previously accused of assaulting and abusing.

Atlantic County prosecutors said Marty Small, a Democrat, asked his daughter to “distort” statements she gave investigators regarding his alleged abuse of her sometimes in December and January.

Specifically, the mayor is accused of asking his daughter to falsely say that the head injury occurred when she tripped and fell in her room.

Small’s lawyer, Edwin Jacobs, called the latest accusation “complete nonsense,” adding that Small asked his daughter to tell the truth about what happened.

“When a parent encourages a child to be accurate and truthful in his testimony to investigators, that parent is not witness tampering,” he said Wednesday. “This parent is doing what a good, responsible parent should do. And that’s exactly what Marty Small did.”

Jacobs called the charge “another attempt by prosecutors to question my client’s upbringing and damage his relationship with his daughter.”

The lawyer did not specify whether the teenager still lives at home with his parents. As recently as last month, Small said she was doing just that.

Prosecutors say Small asked his daughter to retract her previous abuse claim, knowing he would soon be indicted on the original child abuse charge. The alleged request was made two days before the grand jury hearing. charged Marty and La’Quetta Small.

They say both parents beat and emotionally abused the girl, who was between 15 and 16 years old, several times last winter. The couple deny the accusations.

Prosecutors said Marty Small hit his daughter in the head multiple times with a broom on Jan. 13, causing her to lose consciousness. Ten days earlier, they said, Small had argued with his daughter, grabbed her by the head, thrown her to the ground and threatened to throw her down the stairs. The mayor is also accused of hitting his daughter in the legs, causing bruises.

La’Ketta Small, 47, is accused of punching her daughter in the chest multiple times, leaving bruises. She is also accused of pulling her daughter’s hair and hitting her on the shoulders with a belt, leaving marks.

Pair pleaded not guilty to the original charges last month. Marty Small has a court date set for Dec. 3 on a witness tampering charge.

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