Who is Eligio Bishop? Carbon Nation cult leader accused of rape, sending nudes to follower
Cult leader Eligio Lee Bishop is currently being held in DeKalb County Jail, Georgia, following a series of charges including rape. The controversial leader of 'Carbon Nation' was arrested on April 14, and is now being held without bail due to the severity of the charges. Bishop tried to downplay the situation, telling his followers via phone that he is "misunderstood" and "They want to crucify me, they want me dead, there’s hate that surrounds me, you can feel it."
On April 13, officials raided Bishop's home in Decatur, after an investigation by the Special Victims Unit. On March 30, an unidentified person filed a complaint against Bishop alleging false imprisonment, rape, and claiming Bishop sent sexually explicit photos. According to the criminal complaint, the false imprisonment and rape occurred on March 24, with the photos sent three days later.
RELATED ARTICLES
Sarah Lawrence Sex Cult: Lawrence Ray trial exposes BRUTAL crimes committed on students
NXIVM trial: Allison Mack gets 3 years in prison, Internet calls it 'White girl sentence'
Bishop, who also goes by 'Nature Boy' or '3God', sent the explicit images without consent, a move that was defended by Carbon Nation. "We teach sexual education and we believe in nudity... it’s not just like porn, it’s for educational purposes," said Daylin Armstead, a member of the cult.
Who is Eligio Bishop?
Before he became famous as 'Nature Boy', Bishop was a model and stripper. The Atlanta native has spent time in several parts of the US, including New Jersey, New York, Indiana, and South Carolina. According to one website, he went to school to become a barber but decided to change careers somewhere along the way. Bishop worked as a model and exotic entertainer, before deciding to form the controversial cult.
His April 14 arrest isn't his first run-in with the law. In 2009, he was reportedly arrested for forcible entry in Georgia, and again in 2011 for theft and aggravated battery. In 2016, Bishop founded Melanation in Honduras, before moving to Costa Rica. However, just a year later he was booted from the country over migration issues. In 2019, Melanation, then rebranded as Carbon Nation was also booted from Panama and Nicaragua after being branded a "threat to national security."
In June 2020, Bishop was amongst the 21 people arrested for violating quarantine orders in Hawaii. The series of arrests and legal woes forced Bishop to return to Georgia, where he now faces far more serious charges. According to reports, the allegations against him aren't even new. Bishop and the cult believes in nudism and polygamy, and their lifestyle led one former member to dub it "physical and mental abuse." The person said there was also widespread verbal and physical abuse, noting "It’s too many things (Bishop) has gotten away with."
One neighbor of Bishop's claimed that the cult leader was also "whooping girls, beating girls, fertilizing girls, getting girls ready for marriage." However, his legal woes don't seem to have dented Carbon Nation's popularity, at least online. His social media profiles still remain immensely popular, and he appears to still have a large number of followers. In one call from jail, Bishop told his followers that he was simply trying to "help people", but was "misunderstood".
Bishop is now facing five charges - false imprisonment, rape, and three counts of prohibition on nude or sexually explicit electronic transmissions. It is unclear when he is next due in court.