Mayor Marty Small in court for the arraignment of him and his wife in child abuse case.
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small faces a new charge related to the child abuse case against him and his wife.
Small is accused of witness tampering for allegedly trying to get his teenage daughter to change her statement to police about how her head was injured.
Marty and his wife, Superintendent Dr. La'Quetta Small, were previously indicted on charges alleging 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 Smalls were charged on summonses in April, less than a month after their home was searched by investigators and electronics were taken.
The two were indicted Sept. 17.
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.
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, 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.
Mayor Small learned of the new charge from BreakingAC. He did not immediately comment on the case.
