Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Found Not Guilty On All Charges Related to Daughter
Photo of Marty Small from FRNJ Files
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
MAYS LANDING – An Atlantic County jury cleared Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. of all charges related to child abuse allegations against his teenage daughter brought by the county prosecutor’s office.
For more than a year, Small had allegations hanging over his head that could have landed him in prison. A jury, however, rejected charges of second degree child endangerment, third-degee aggravated assault, third-degree terrorist threats, witness tampering and disorderly persons simple assault.
The jury listened to a week of testimony and deliberated for three days before returing the verdict late Thursday morning. His wife, Atlantic City School Superintendent La’Quetta Small, still faces her own charges related to the case. It is not known how her husband’s acquittal will affect her case.
During the trial, Small took the stand in his own defending, telling the jury directly that he did not abuse his after she told the jury during the prosecution’s portion of the case that he struck her with a broom after refusing to attend an event.
What came out during the trial and in cross-examination was a combative teen whose boyfriend, recorded the Small’s interactions on a smartphone. The boyfriend, who the parents did not approve of, however, never took the stand to support the prosecution or the recordings.
“Thank you, Jesus. Thank you jury,” Small said when the verdict was read, according to the online publication Breaking AC.
After leaving the courthouse, Small said the “entire Atlantic City was on trial.” Despite the charges, Small handily won re-election for a second full term as mayor beating out challengers in the Democratic primary and general election last month.
“Myself, my wife and Mandy (Days-Champman, former Atlantic City principal) have been drugged through the mud for nonsense,” Small told a gathering of media representatives in a video posted by ABC Philadelphia. “Twelve strangers, and it wasn’t even a jury of my peers, and we said it didn’t matter because anybody in that jury box could see this for what it was.”
Small said the election showed that the residents backed him regardless of the allegations and he is not determined to continue working as the city’s top elected official.
“The people of Atlantic City want us. The people of Atlantic City needs us. The people of Atlantic City deserves us. We’re going to continue to put on for our city. … Now, we can put this chapter behind us. We can move on as a family and a community, because make no mistake about it, the great city of Atlantic City had my back.”
As far as his teenage daughter, Small said he is determined to bring his family back together. He admitted that his daughter, “is lost right now.”
“If I can be the man of the city, I can be the man of my house,” he said, according to Fox29 News.
This story is developing.
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