Mayor Marty Small in court for the arraignment of him and his wife in child abuse case.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small has been indicted for third-degree witness tampering for allegedly telling his teenage daughter to lie about how she suffered a head injury.
Small and his wife, Atlantic City Superintendent of Schools Dr. La'Quetta Small, were previously indicted on charges of child endangerment and assault for allegedly abusing their then-16-year-old daughter.
One of those allegations included a claim Mayor Small beat his daughter unconscious with a broom.
The new charge claims that days before the grand jury handed up its decision, Mayor Small asked his daughter "to do him a favor and 'twist up' the story she previously told police about alleged abuse allegations she made against him specifically by asking her to state that she tripped and fell in her room when her head was injured," according to the affidavit of probable cause obtained by BreakingAC.
The charge is third-degree, which carries a potential term of three to five years if convicted.
"You know how they say a bad prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich? This is just that," Small told BreakingAC. "We look forward fighting this bullsh** case, and I'll let Eddie Jacobs (his attorney) do the rest of the talking."
The case was sparked when their daughter reported the abuse to school employees. But it took more than one report, according to charges against two school workers.
Constance Days-Chapman, the Atlantic City High School principal who the Small children know as "Aunt Mandy," allegedly ignored the girl's initial report to her.
Then, when the teen went to someone else at school, they alleged that Days-Chapman denied knowing of the claims and said she would report the information to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Instead, she allegedly went to the Smalls, and told them of the girl's allegations.
Days-Chapman now faces several charges of official misconduct along with endangering the welfare of a child and hindering. She pleaded not guilty in September.
A second school employee was charged in September.
Toria Young, a secretary at the High School, witnessed an injury to the girl's face in mid-January, and also saw bruises on the girl's arm, she told detectives investigating the allegations in February.
But Young — who is identified as the victim's older cousin — did not report what she knew, according to charges filed against her.
The Smalls first were charged on summonses in April, less than a month after their home was searched by investigators and electronics were taken.
