Constance Days-Chapman is accused of failing to report abuse allegations made by the daughter of Mayor Marty Small and Superintendent La'Quetta Small.
Criminal charges filed against Atlantic City High School’s principal are just an attempt to get at Atlantic City’s first couple, the woman’s attorney alleges in a motion filed Tuesday.
Constance Days-Chapman, 39, was indicted on eight charges, including five counts of official misconduct for allegedly failing to report abuse claims made against Mayor Marty Small and his wife, Superintendent La’Quetta Small.
It is the first use of the official misconduct statute in this way in the state’s history, attorney Lee Vartan claims in a motion to dismiss the case.
“Never has any teacher, administrator, public official — anyone — been charged with official misconduct for failing to report alleged child abuse,” he wrote in the 46-page filing obtained by BreakingAC. “The outrageousness of the State’s prosecution leaps off the page.”
Vartan previously claimed Days-Chapman is “collateral damage” due to her close relationship with the Smalls. She is known as “Aunt Mandy” to the Smalls’ two children.
He doubled down in Tuesday’s filing.
“The prosecution against Days-Chapman appears to be solely motivated by a desire to convict Mayor Small and Dr. Small,” Vartan wrote. “Nearly immediately upon the return of the indictment against Days-Chapman, the state presented Days-Chapman with a cooperation agreement. The state would allow Days-Chapman to enter PTI (pretrial intervention) in exchange for Days-Chapman providing evidence against Mayor Small and Dr. Small.”
PTI allows a defendant with no criminal history to avoid prosecution or incarceration by completing a program.
Vartan alleges that two other school employees also knew about the reported abuse yet did not report it, naming guidance counselor Jonathan Rivera and his supervisor, Laurie Carter.
“No other public school educator, including other educators in this case, has been indicted for official misconduct for failing to report alleged child abuse,” Vartan wrote. “But no other public school educator is Mayor Small’s campaign manager or the chairperson of the Atlantic City Democratic Committee, as Days-Chapman is.”
A decision on a separate motion to suppress evidence from two cell phones and an Apple watch is expected Feb. 27. Arguments on that were made before Judge Bernard Delury Jan. 24.
At that time, Vartan insisted Days-Chapman did report the abuse allegations made by the Smalls’ daughter, just not to the 800-number for the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, as the state has cited as the requirement.
He reiterates that claim in the latest filing, again naming Bianca Dozier, a DCPP supervisor who Days-Chapman spoke with four times within three days last January, when the teenager made her report.
The first phone call was approximately a half-hour Jan. 23, 2024. That was followed by three more calls over the next two days, Vartan writes.
The state has argued that Days-Chapman presented a “hypothetical” scenario to Dozier and did not make a specific report concerning about the Smalls’ daughter.
Vartan’s latest motion not only insists that the principal reported the alleged abuse, but that by reporting it, she is immune from prosecution.
“Title 9 contains broad immunity for anyone who reports potential child abuse to DCP&P,” Vartan writes. “This explicitly includes protection from criminal liability.”
The grand jurors who voted to indict Days-Chapman should have been instructed on the immunity provisions, the motion argues.
He also argued that Days-Chapman had “two conflicting and irreconcilable duties” in that she is supposed to report abuse allegations to her supervisor, while barred from reporting it to the student’s alleged abuse. Dr. Small falls into both categories.
“The motion to dismiss filed today shows that the state’s prosecution is legally and factually flawed many times over,” Vartan told BreakingAC on Tuesday. “We look forward to arguing it before the court and returning Mandy to Atlantic City High School, where she belongs.”
