Atlantic City mayor asked underage daughter to lie to police, officials say

✅ Mayor Marty Small is accused of abusing his teenage daughter

✅ An affidavit shows Small asked his daughter to change her story

✅ The mayor maintains his innocence

ATLANTIC CITY — Mayor Marty Small Sr. allegedly asked his 16-year-old daughter to lie to police about how she received a head injury.

Small and wife La’Quetta Small, who is the city's school superintendent were indicted in September on child endangerment and other charges. Prosecutors said both parents hit and emotionally abused the girl, who was 15 to 16 years old, in December and January, at least once to the point of unconsciousness.

According to the new complaint obtained by Harry Hurley of Townsquare Media station WPG Talkradio, Small asked his daughter to “do him a favor and ‘twist up’ the story and say that she tripped and fell in her room."

She had told police her father beat her with a broom handle.

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'We look forward to telling our side'

The indictment came out Sept. 17 less than a week after Atlantic City High School principal Constance Days-Chapman was charged with counts stemming from the same case.  Days-Chapman is accused of failing to report the abuse allegations to state child welfare authorities. She is a close friend of the Smalls, and La’Quetta Small is her boss.

According to the indictment, in December 2023 the15 year-old girl told Days-Chapman she was suffering headaches from beatings by her parents. But instead of telling authorities, the indictment says, Days-Chapman instead told the Smalls.

Investigators said that Small had grabbed his daughter's head, slammed it on stairs and threw her to the ground so hard the weave in her hair came out, according to NBC Philadelphia coverage.

On the day he and his wife were indicted, Small told The Associated Press that he was eager to have the facts examined and that his daughter continues to live at home.

“All people have heard is one side of the story,” he said. “We look forward to telling our side.”

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