Bail reduced in case of 'sadomasochism gone awry'

DURHAM -- A Durham Superior Court judge reduced bail today for the man accused in the rape, kidnapping and beating case that defense lawyers have described as "consensual sadomasochism gone awry."

Judge Orlando Hudson lowered bail to $50,000 for Joseph Craig, who has been in the Durham County Jail since late June.

A former dispatcher at Allied Waste Industries, Craig, 25, 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.

His wife, Joy Johnson, 30, faces aiding and abetting charges in a case that has created financial hardships for the couple, defense lawyers say.

The accusers in the bizarre case are a 44-year-old woman and 19-year-old man who moved in with the couple more than 10 months ago to study the occult.

The man, James Frederick Bethard, 19, of Maryland, accuses Craig of forcing him into a dog cage with his arms and legs shackled, and beating him repeatedly with a cane.

The woman accused Craig of raping her while she was trying to channel spirits, although she testified this summer that she also engaged in consensual oral sex with the accused more than once.

The News & Observer is not identifying the woman in keeping with its general policy of not identifying people who allege sex crimes.

Although prosecutors have laced their descriptions of the allegations with references to satanic rituals and the study of the occult, defense lawyers have described the incidents as sadomasochism.

The question the state would put before a jury, Hudson said, is: At what point does sadomasochism becomes assault?

"Not that I know anything personally about sadomasochism." Hudson said in court today, "but inherent -- that that's what the person wants."

In July, Hudson reduced bail for Johnson over the objections of Assistant District Attorney Jan Paul, who told the judge the accusers felt threatened by the couple.

During that hearing, Elizabeth Curran, the public defender representing Johnson, said the charges made no sense.

"There is no corroborating evidence offered," Curran said. "We have a female ... who was on the stand who was in therapy.

"This is the same woman who at the time she said she was being raped also said she was channeling demons," Curran added later in the hearing.

Johnson, released on bail in July, moved to Mecklenburg County a short time later to live with her mother. She was ordered to have no contact with the accusers and she has not, according to Curran.

Woody Vann, the Durham lawyer representing Craig, said the couple has suffered financial hardships while waiting for the case to move through the courts.

Craig lost his dispatcher job while behind bars. The couple, now struggling to pay their bills, was forced from their rental home on Albany Street in Durham, Vann added.

"He's out of a job, he's lost his property, and he's lost his reputation," Vann said.

Testimony this summer revealed an unusual living arrangement in the small house on Albany Street where Craig and Johnson lived.

Bethard was already living with the couple when the female accuser arrived in December after meeting them through a Web site.

At some point, though, both Bethard and the 44-year-old woman with whom he would start a sexual relationship said, they began to fear the couple they've now accused of assault.

Although each worked outside the home and had a cell phone and access to money, both stayed with the accused until late June, long after the incidents were said to have occurred.

Defense lawyers have described the woman as someone who used multiple names online and who took anti-depression medication. Bethard was described as a buyer and user of cocaine, an allegation he denied.