11Alive.com
Author: Meleah Lyden, Tracey Amick-Peer
February 29, 2024
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A case involving alleged cult leader Eligio Bishop is now in the hands of the jury after the judge gave them instructions Thursday evening. The jury is expected to begin deliberations Friday morning.
The 40-year-old, known as "Natureboy," is the alleged leader of the "Carbon Nation" group. He was arrested in April 2022; a grand jury later indicted him on charges of rape, false imprisonment and three counts of prohibition on nude or sexually explicit electronic transmissions in July of 2022.
A former member of the cult who identified herself as his girlfriend said he posted revenge porn "because she left him." Police reports detailed that the woman told authorities that "she had joined a sex cult in which her boyfriend is the leader" and that "she did live together with Mr. Bishop, and he has posted sexually explicit videos of her and him without her consent on X, formerly known as Twitter. Later, Bishop's wife and former cult member told 11Alive he had sexually and emotionally abused members.
Bishop was not in the courtroom Thursday and instead decided to watch his trial from the DeKalb County Jail as he said he was afraid to be there after someone tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
The first witnesses to the defense took the stand on Thursday as well. One of them was a man who said at 17, he joined "Carbon Nation," which prosecutors argue is a cult. The witness was adamantly against this definition.
"It's a tribe. I joined a tribe of my own free will," he said.
He also claimed the rules weren't rules. Instead, they were ways they all agreed to live. One example he gave was about going to the bathroom outside. He also stated he believed Bishop to be a god -- a "messiah" -- as he called it.
Some witnesses also claimed that any violence in the group was acting in order to get more attention online.
"It was all for entertainment purpose. We decided that humanity is in a very special time right now, and we come with a very important message," a witness said.
The prosecution called out one witness who claimed violence in a video was members imitating the Will Smith and Chris Rock slapping incident from the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony. The prosecution claimed the video was from a time period before the awards show. The same witness stated she posted porn online of the victim -- not Bishop.
The defense witnesses claimed the trial against Bishop was corrupt and that people who hated their group were trying to stop them from getting their message out.
That being said, victims who testified earlier in the trial said that Bishop cut off their contact with the outside world and controlled his members.
"He considers himself to be god. He went from 'I’m your higher self' to master teacher to god. He believes he is the end all be all -- the alpha and omega," a victim stated.
In an interview with detectives from 2022 that was played in the courtroom, Bishop told detectives that he was acting and claimed any sex with him was consensual.
“Raping who? I wouldn't rape anyone. I have all of these women. Why would I rape someone? I have five women. Why would I rape a girl? I’m a lady’s man," he argued in his interview with police.
Another victim stated she joined the group in 2017 and said she was punished for breaking the rules.
"He wanted us to approach him a certain way by calling him 'my king.' There was a time I was called in a room and didn’t address him that way, and I was made to do squats -- he made his wife leave the room, and that led to him raping me," she said.
A separate victim also claimed that he posted revenge porn of her.
"After I left, Nature Boy started leaking videos of me that I didn’t want out there,” she said.
The jury is expected to be in court by 9 a.m., and they will start deliberations once everyone has arrived.
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/trials/jury-to-decide-fate-alleged-cult-leader-natureboy-eligio-bishop/85-8507d629-35cd-4df4-87af-a380863de244
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