December 18, 2025
Joe Lamberti/USA TODAY NETWORK
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. was found not guilty on all counts in his child abuse case after a weeklong trial. Small, 51, was reelected in November. Prosecutors alleged he was repeatedly violent and threatening toward his daughter. Above, Small is shown in Atlantic City in 2021.
After jury deliberations that spanned three days, Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. was found not guilty Thursday on all counts of physically and emotionally abusing his teenage daughter during a series of incidents at the family's home two years ago.
Small, 51, has served as mayor since 2019 and was reelected to his second full-term in November despite the looming trial that threatened to derail the Democratic mayor's political career. He would have been required to forfeit his office if he had been convicted.
Small faced multiple charges for allegedly knocking his daughter unconscious with a broom, slamming her down a staircase and punching her repeatedly during arguments about her boyfriend and poor performance at school.
La'Quetta Small, the mayor's wife and superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools, faces separate charges of abusing the couple's daughter — now 17 — and will have her own trial in January.
During Small's weeklong trial in New Jersey Superior Court, prosecutors presented jurors with photos of the teen's injuries and audio recordings of arguments taken from devices belonging to the girl's boyfriend. They alleged Small repeatedly threatened and physically harmed his daughter during fights at their home, and Small also was accused of pressuring the girl to change her story after the mayor and his wife were indicted last year.
Small's attorney, Leo Barbone, argued the state interceded in a private family matter. He said Small's daughter — who took the stand last week — exaggerated her injuries from conflicts with her father. In text messages and other video evidence presented to jurors, the defense portrayed the teen as a rebellious child who became combative when disciplined.
Small was supported in court by testimony from more than 40 character witnesses, including retired Atlantic City Police Chief Henry White, former Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman and developer Bart Blatstein, who owns the Showboat hotel.
Before the jury reached its verdict around noon Thursday, jurors had requested to listen again to Small's testimony surrounding the alleged incident with the broom. Small testified that his daughter became upset when he would not allow her to go to a peace walk in January 2024. Small claimed the girl threw laundry detergent at him, threatened him with a butter knife and then picked up a broom to attack him. When he put up his hands to grab the broom handle, Small said his daughter fell backward and passed out "for about 10 seconds," Breaking AC reported from the trial.
"I did not, I repeat did not beat my daughter with a broom," Small said during closing arguments Friday.
Small had been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and witness tampering.
La'Quetta, 49, is accused of beating her daughter, dragging her by her hair and striking her with a belt during incidents at the family's home. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree endangering the welfare.
The allegations against the mayor and his wife came to light after their daughter first reported the incidents to Small's former campaign manager, Constance Days-Chapman, who was the principal at Atlantic City High School. Days-Chapman went directly to the girl's parents instead of reporting the alleged abuse to the state, prosecutors said. The Smalls' daughter then went to a school counselor, who followed protocols for mandatory reporting of child abuse allegations.
Days-Chapman, who has been suspended from her job as principal, will face trial next year on charges of official misconduct, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering apprehension.
