ATLANTIC CITY — The city's high school principal accused of failing to report child abuse is due back in court next month, according to court officials.Â
Constance Days-Chapman is scheduled to appear in front of Atlantic County Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury on Aug. 29. She is charged with official misconduct, hindering apprehension of another, obstruction of justice and failure to report child abuse.
Days-Chapman was originally expected to appear in court Thursday, however, her attorney, Lee Vartan, said at a May 28 pre-indictment conference that he and his client would likely not appear for it unless the Prosecutor's Office sent more information.Â
She has not entered a plea and doesn't intend to as Vartan believes the case will eventually get thrown out due to a lack of evidence.Â
Earlier this year, the teenage daughter of Mayor Marty Small Sr. and Superintendent La’Quetta Small told school officials she was being physically and mentally abused at home, according to a court document.
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The claim set off an investigation that saw Days-Chapman charged with failing to report the alleged abuse and the Smalls charged with endangering the welfare of a child over allegations they assaulted their teenage daughter.
The attorney representing Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman on charges of official misconduct believes the case will eventually be thrown out due to a lack of evidence.
According to prosecutors, a staff member informed Days-Chapman about the daughter’s abuse claim. Days-Chapman said she would report the issue to the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
Days-Chapman then allegedly met with the girl’s parents at their home and informed them the student had told staff about the abuse, authorities have said.
But it was later determined that Days-Chapman failed to report the abuse, as required by law and school district policy, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Court documents allege Days-Chapman didn’t report the incident to protect the girl’s parents from being investigated.
Days-Chapman has since been replaced as principal by the district’s secondary education director, Donald Harris.
Days-Chapman headed up Mayor Small’s reelection campaign in 2021 and is president of the city’s Democratic Committee, but she was asked to take a leave of absence from that position pending the outcome of her case.
She faces five to 10 years in prison if convicted, Vartan said.
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