Bail adjusted in Durham sex case

DURHAM -- A judge agreed to lower bail for Joy Suzanne Johnson, who is accused of aiding and abetting her husband in a sexual assault case that includes allegations of caging a man.

But because the prosecutor had not been able to talk with the accusers and the lead investigator was on vacation, Judge William Lawton said he only felt comfortable setting bail at $220,000 -- $210,000 higher than the public defender had asked. Johnson's bail was originally set at $270,000.

"I'm not comfortable budging too much down or up," Lawton said Monday in a hearing in Durham County district court.

Johnson, 30, is one of three people charged in connection with a case that a prosecutor claims involves kidnapping, rape and satanic worship.

Joseph Scott Craig, Johnson's husband and 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.

The two people he is accused of assaulting -- a man, 19, and a woman, 44 - listed 2305 Albany St., the home of Craig and Johnson, as their address, according to court documents.

Johnson, according to an arrest warrant, is accused 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."

Elizabeth Curran, the public defender representing Johnson, was disappointed by the results of the hearing today.

Curran had asked for a probable cause hearing, which could have provided more details about the case.

"We'd like to hear what the allegations really specifically are," Curran said after the hearing. "It's not completely clear from the warrants to determine what they're saying happened."

But R.J. Guardino, the lead investigator in the case, is on vacation.

Jan Paul, the assistant district attorney assigned to the case, told the judge today that she had only received the police screening report last week and had not had sufficient time to go over the details.

Another obstacle, Paul said, was that the report did not have any contact information for the accusers. Since the arrest of Johnson and Craig on June 27, Paul said, the accusers have left the state.

The judge set two hearings for Johnson. She is scheduled for another bond hearing July 14, the same day her husband is due in court.

On July 21, the day the investigator is due back from vacation, Johnson could find out more about the allegations against her.

"Ms. Johnson would definitely like the chance to confront her accusers," Curran said.