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Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small charged with asking daughter to say he did not injure her
Marty Small Sr., 50, was charged Monday with witness tampering involving the girl, whom he and his wife, La'Quetta — the New Jersey seaside gambling resort city's superintendent of schools — were previously charged with assaulting and abusing.
ATLANTIC CITY - Trial dates are set in the child abuse case against Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife, A.C. School District Superintendent Dr. La’Quetta Small.
The couple were charged with second-degree child endangerment after being accused of beating and mentally abusing their teenage daughter last year.
What's New?:
The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office confirmed on Monday that Mayor Small's trial will start on November 10.
Prosecutors said the state previously offered a probationary offer in exchange for a guilty plea to a third-degree aggravated assault charge.
"We did not make forfeiture of public office a condition of that offer," prosecutors told FOX 29.
Mayor Marty Small was recorded threatening daughter while on video chat with boyfriend: affidavit
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife disapproved of their teenage daughter's boyfriend, who secretly recorded an incident of him allegedly physically and verbally assaulting the girl over a video chat, according to an affidavit filed by prosecutors.
Anyone convicted of a third-degree crime or higher is prohibited from holding public office, according to prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Dr. La’Quetta Small's trial is set to begin on Dec. 1.
She still faces a 5-year prison sentence because her attorney never made a counter offer, prosecutors said.
The backstory:
The Smalls have maintained their innocence thus far, claiming instead that it's a "private family matter that has been blown tremendously out of proportion."
Among the alleged abuse, the mayor is accused of hitting his then-16-year-old daughter in the head with a broom and punching her repeatedly in the legs.
The teen's mother, La’Quetta Small, is accused of dragging her by her hair, punching her in the chest and face, and hitting her with a belt.
The couple previously pleaded not guilty to a charge of witness tampering, after being accused of pressuring their daughter into lying about the alleged abuse.
Small's lawyer, Edwin Jacobs, called the charge "sheer nonsense," adding that Small asked his daughter to tell the truth about what happened.
The alleged request was made two days before a grand jury indicted the Smalls.