DURHAM - A husband and wife face more charges in a case that contains allegations of sexual assault and satanic rituals that include shackling, caging and depriving a man of food and water.
Joseph Scott Craig, 25, and Joy Suzanne Johnson, 30, both of 2305 Albany St., are scheduled to appear in Durham County court this morning on the new charges in a case that has shocked acquaintances and former co-workers of the couple.
Johnson resigned this week as third vice chairwoman of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice chairwoman of the Young Democrats.
The charges stem from accusations of sexual assault and kidnapping by a woman who listed the couple's home as her address.
In a city where an escort service dancer's highly publicized accusations of gang-rape were dismantled and dismissed as phony allegations in the Duke lacrosse case, many are reserving judgment in the satanic ritual case until more facts are disclosed.
With prosecutors divulging little information and newly appointed public defenders not yet up to speed on the cases, the only details available are in arrest warrants.
The News & Observer does not generally identify people who have filed complaints of sexual assault.
The incidents, according to warrants, occurred in December 2007 and in January and May.
Craig, a dispatcher at Allied Waste Industries, has been charged with second-degree rape, second-degree forcible sexual offense, three counts of second-degree kidnapping and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. Two of the kidnapping charges were filed Tuesday.
Two charges of aiding and abetting filed against Johnson on Tuesday reveal new details of what the woman in their house alleged.
The warrants accuse Johnson of "instigating and encouraging" her husband as he handcuffed a man and forced him "into a dog cage, leaving him there for hours, terrorizing him."
Johnson was charged Friday with two other counts of aiding and abetting.
The accusations have set off a flurry of questions and disbelief in Durham and beyond.
"My mouth dropped open when I found out about this," said Katrina Ford-Merritt, a former co-worker of Craig's. "I thought it was a mistake."
Ford-Merritt worked at Allied Waste Industries with Craig for several years until she left the company in November.
"He never showed me any kind of devil-worshipping stuff," Ford-Merritt said. "We wasn't walking around chanting or anything. He was a normal person. He was a sweetheart to me."
Annette Hickson, who spent many hours with Craig in a small dispatch room at Allied Waste Industries, was just as astounded.
Craig, who moved to Durham from Kentucky several years ago, has been accused of using a wooden cane and cable cord to beat the man he is accused of caging. He also is accused of assaulting the woman with a wooden cane and raping her.
Hickson said she "personally didn't believe" Craig was a Satan-worshipper. "You'd see him wear black pants and a T-shirt with weird stuff on it, but it wasn't that different."
For the past three months, Johnson worked 10 hours a week for People's Alliance, a political action group in Durham that supports local liberal causes. But in court papers seeking a public defender, Johnson stated that she had resigned her post.
Page McCullough, vice president of the alliance, said she could not believe the allegations.
Johnson was described by many acquaintances as shy, someone who blushed visibly when meeting new people.
"We find these charges, if true, just shocking," McCullough said.
(Staff writer Stanley B. Chambers Jr. and news researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.)
Well republicans rape little boys. I hear that is a requirement for entry into the Republican party. That and being rich. I think I read that on Wikipedia.
I have to get the Democrats some kudos. They at least target the opposite sex for raping others.
I love this shit.
> shackling, caging and depriving a man of food and water
Isn't that the Republican plan for peast in the middle east?
WAT