The mayor of Atlantic City, N.J., Marty Small Sr., and his wife, the city’s superintendent of public schools, were indicted on Tuesday on charges related to the alleged abuse of their teenage daughter.

In an indictment returned by a New Jersey grand jury, Mr. Small, 50, and his wife, La’Quetta Small, 47, were charged with endangering the welfare of a child in the second degree, according to the Atlantic County prosecutor’s office. Mr. Small was also charged with third-degree aggravated assault and making terroristic threats.

The indictment comes five months after the couple was first accused of physically and emotionally abusing their daughter. The abuse occurred when she was 15 and 16 years old, prosecutors said in a news release.

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Prosecutors described a pattern of violence by both parents over a two-month period ending in January. Once, the prosecutors said, the mayor used a broom to hit his daughter on her head until she lost consciousness. In another episode, he punched her repeatedly in the legs, causing bruises, according to prosecutors. On another occasion, they said, Ms. Small dragged her daughter by her hair and hit her with a belt.

ImageLa’Quetta Small, the superintendent of the city’s schools and the mayor’s wife, is accused of dragging her daughter by her hair and hitting her with a belt.Credit...Wayne Parry/Associated Press

Mr. Small’s lawyer, Edwin Jacobs, said in an interview that his client denied the charges and stressed that the indictment did not accuse Mr. Small of official misconduct in his role as mayor. Mr. Small will “absolutely not” resign, Mr. Jacobs said.

Subscribe to The Times to read as many articles as you like.1xvegas

• 1xvegas
• City
• Mayor
• Indicted
• Atlantic