ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – The mayor of Atlantic City, already accused of abusing his teenage daughter, now faces a new charge that he asked her to lie about how she suffered a head injury.

Marty Small Sr., 50, was charged Monday with witness tampering involving the girl, who he and his wife, La’Quetta — the superintendent of schools in the seaside gambling resort of New Jersey – were previously accused of assault and abuse.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Marty Small, a Democrat, asked his daughter to “take back” a statement she gave to investigators about the alleged abuse of her sometimes in December and January.

Specifically, the mayor is accused of asking his daughter to falsely say a head injury occurred when she tripped and fell in her room.

Small’s attorney, Edwin Jacobs, called the latest allegation “nonsense,” adding that Small asked his daughter to tell the truth about what happened.

“When a parent encourages a child to be fair and honest in their statements to investigators, that parent is not witness tampering,” he said Wednesday. “That parent does what a good, responsible parent should do. And that’s exactly what Marty Small did.”

Jacobs called the charge “another effort by the prosecution to second-guess the role of my client’s father and corrupt his relationship with his daughter.”

The attorney did not say whether the teenager still lives at home with her parents. Even last month, Small said he was doing so.

Prosecutors allege Small asked his daughter to contradict her previous claim of abuse, knowing he was about to be indicted on the original child abuse charge. The alleged request was made two days before a grand jury accused Marty and La’Quetta Small.

They say both parents hit and emotionally abused the girl, who was between 15 and 16, last winter. The couple denies the allegations.

Prosecutors said that on Jan. 13, Marty Small hit his daughter several times in the head with a broom, knocking her unconscious. Ten days earlier, they said, Small had argued with his daughter, grabbing her by the head, throwing her to the ground and threatening to throw her down the stairs. The mayor is also accused of hitting his daughter in the legs, causing bruises.

La’Quetta Small, 47, is accused of hitting her daughter multiple times in the chest, leaving bruises. She is also accused of dragging her daughter by her hair and hitting her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks.

couple pleaded not guilty to the initial charges last month. Marty Small has a court date on the witness tampering charge set for December 3rd.