DURHAM - Another local Democratic official has been charged in a criminal case that includes allegations of sexual assault and satanic rituals.

Diana Palmer, first vice chairwoman of the Durham County Democratic Party, turned herself in to Durham police this afternoon. Palmer, 44, of Cottage Woods Court, was charged with one count of accessory after the fact of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

Bill Thomas, a defense lawyer in the Duke lacrosse case, is representing Palmer and is disturbed by the accusations.

"Ms. Palmer vehemently denies any association whatsoever with a satanic cult," Thomas said this afternoon while his client was being processed at the jail. "She further denies any knowledge of a crime being perpetrated by the persons previously arrested."

Joseph Scott Craig, 25, and Joy Suzanne Johnson, 30, both of 2305 Albany St., are in the Durham County jail.

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 charges stem from accusations by a woman who listed the couple's home as her address.

The man who police say was caged also lived at the house.

"The Durham Police Department has knowledge that my client was not present and did not have knowledge of crimes for which others have been arrested, and I hope the investigator will share this with the public," Thomas said Wednesday.

In a city where an escort service dancer's highly publicized accusations of gang rape were 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 are divulging little information and newly appointed public defenders are 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.

Palmer was a partner with Craig and Johnson in a company called Indigo Dawn. The company's Web site says Indigo Dawn offers products and services "to promote enlightenment and assist in the development and self-empowerment and divine potential."

Among the services offered, according to the Web site, are "intuitive guidance, past-life regression, spirit guide communication and healing and cleansing."

Police continued their investigation today. They executed a search warrant at the Albany Street home.

Durham animal control officers were at the couple's Albany Street home today with pet abandonment notices.

The couple has two dogs, according to neighbors, a small chihuahua named Pebbles and a white pit bull terrier named Tia. Neighbors said they thought the smaller dog had been taken out of the home and was being cared for by a friend.

The larger dog was in the backyard, but a neighbor had been feeding and taking care of him since the arrest.

Johnson and Craig have been in the Durham County jail since Friday.

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