By: Michael Volpe
The PPJ Gazetter

*Note: Ruby, the name used, is a pseudonym for the girl who accused Jon Massey of molestation – the pseudonym is used because she is underage.

Friends and family of the accuser say the man convicted of molesting her in early 2014 wasn’t given a fair trial and the police, the Department of Social Services (DSS), the District Attorney, and the judge were fooled by a manipulative teenager. Jon Massey committed suicide by swallowing a cyanide pill shortly after being found guilty of molesting his girlfriend’s daughter Ruby, twelve at the time of the allegation, but Liz Scanlon, a teacher for nearly thirty years, believes her daughter lied.

Massey had struggled with depression and suicidal ideation since 2001, according to Scanlon.

“There are some teenagers that will threaten to call CPS and the police on their parents if they aren’t allowed to do what they want. Some of them even follow through.” Scanlon said.

Scanlon said the Jefferson County Department of Social Services (DSS) removed both Ruby and her younger daughter, now 10, immediately after Ruby first made the allegations because Scanlon was skeptical of her daughter and stuck by Massey.

Margaret Williams, Scanlon’s friend, said she believed that the state vigorously prosecuted Massey because Liz Scanlon threatened to sue the state. Scanlon filed a Notice of Claim in October 2012, the first step toward filing a formal lawsuit, shortly after DSS removed both Ruby and her younger daughter.

As a result of Massey’s conviction and Scanlon standing by him, both Ruby and Scanlon’s younger daughter, now 10, Scanlon hasn’t seen either daughter in more than a year.

“All Jon ever did was try to be a good father to all three of them (Liz Scanlon’s kids),” said Khris Lavere a friend and neighbor of Scanlon’s.

Read more here…