Destiny Marcy joins me for an exclusive interview.
I have done two stories on Destiny’s dad: first in 2017 for the PPJ Gazette and then in 2020 for The Daily Caller.
Joe is in jail for molesting Destiny, but she has long since recanted.
Joseph Marcy was convicted in 2012 of molesting his daughter, who was six and seven at the time of the alleged incidents and sentenced to twenty to forty years in jail.
In 2015, his daughter recanted, and the trial judge overturned the conviction, noting in his decision, “A complete recantation by the victim raises the question of whether a crime was committed at all.”
What she told me today will shock the conscience. Not only did someone else molest her, Destiny told me, but every time she tried to tell the truth, those in authority dismissed her and instead insisted that she tell them her father did it.
This case was investigated by the Edwardsville, PA Police Department, and they did not respond to my query for comment.
“Every time I would tell her {the CPS caseworker} that this Jason Wolf person would hurt me, she would tell me ‘No, I got confused, it’s my dad, it’s my dad,’ and every time I would say it was my dad to like tell court officials and in general, she would reward me, she would give me like teddy bears.” Destiny told me.
Even before this latest revelation, Destiny’s previous recantations should have gotten her father released. Destiny testified at what is called a Post-Conviction Relief Act (PCRA) hearing.
The judge who presided, Judge Joseph Augello, was the same judge who presided over the trial.
He ruled that her recantation was credible, and it left no evidence against Joe.
That’s because all these allegations came years after the alleged incident, and they came after another failed investigation of Joe for physical abuse.
The alleged molestation was not the first allegation Ruby made initially to Luzerne County Children and Youth Services (CYS).
In 2009, after her grandparents on her mother’s side noticed a bruise on Ruby’s butt, they called CYS.
In interviews with CYS social worker Holly Jones, Ruby disclosed that her father had been beating her.
But when this went to trial, in front of a juvenile court tribunal, Ruby {the pseudonym I then used for Destiny} was found to be without credibility because she was susceptible to coaching.
“After reviewing all of the evidence and testimony provided in this case, I find that the CYS did not present sufficient evidence to prove that the subject child was the victim of child physical abuse inflicted by Joe Marcy and witnessed by her mother. The sole evidence presented by CYS is the statement of the subject child. However, based upon the review of that testimony, I find that the testimony of Ruby was fabricated and not credible. Ruby is a six year old child and she stated that she was punished with a wooden paddle with holes in it had her name and the name of her siblngs written on it. That statement by Ruby exactly mirrors information that was told to her by her mother in the past.” The judge in that case concluded.
Judge Augello reversed the conviction, but that was appealed. The appeals court- sua sponte or on its own volition- decided without examining the recantation that Joe’s appeal was not submitted on time.
On July 1, 2016, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in an unpublished opinion, reinstated the conviction, but the court did not issue a decision on the merits.
Instead, the court argued that the PCRA was not submitted in time.
“After careful review, we conclude that the PCRA court improperly grated Appellee’s PCRA Petition because Appellee had knowledge of the victims’ recantation in 2012 and did not raise it until 2014,” the court stated.
Joe’s case has stood at a standstill since then.
He is currently being represented by David Roth, who recently argued his case in front of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
The arguments currently made mirror those made previously, but Roth hopes the outcome will be different this time.
The Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office- which prosecuted the case- is being represented by James L. McMonagle, Jr.,
McMonagle told me that based on the evidence it is the position of his office that Destiny’s original testimony is the credible testimony, and besides that, Joe did not submit his appeal in time, so it is defective.
In Roth’s appeal, he noted that the issue of credibility is academic at this point; that’s because Judge Augello is the authority- given that he presided over the original trial and her recantation- and his opinion should be treated with deference.
McMonagle also told me that he is not aware of Destiny’s most recent allegations, which have not been made to police or prosecutors, to his knowledge.
As Destiny told me, she is planning on going to police to make a formal complaint.
Destiny told me that as a result of her dad’s conviction, she was thrown into foster care with relatives.
She described a harrowing tale of being abused by a drug addicted relative. Check out the interview to hear her harrowing tale.
Postscript
Check out the previous free articles in this series. Find the first, second , third , fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh article.
Check out the fundraiser on wrongful convictions.
Michael Volpe Investigates Special Report: An Interview with Destiny Marcy