DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Nearly two years after his arrest during a late-night raid, a man accused of being a cult leader and raping a former follower will head to trial this week.

Eligio Bishop, also known as “Nature Boy,” was arrested in April 2022.

DeKalb County authorities charged Bishop with rape, false imprisonment and three counts of prohibition on nude or sexually explicit electronic transmissions.

The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday, but an attorney conflict came up. Jury selection will now begin Wednesday morning.

Neighbors have accused Bishop of running an online cult called “Carbon Nation.”

“Carbon Nation is his cult. He’s been whooping girls, beating girls, fertilizing girls, getting girls ready for marriage,” a female neighbor said, not giving her name.

The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office says Bishop raped a former follower who tried to leave the cult in March 2022. The DA’s Office says Bishop also posted “revenge porn” online after the victim left the alleged cult.

Our partners at Channel 2 Action News went by the home in April 2022 where several people claimed to be Bishop’s “disciples.”

“Basically, the police raided us on false accusations,” a disciple, who goes by the name of ‘Musa’, told Channel 2 Action News.

Musa said Bishop is their god and as a group they believe in nature, nudity, and kindness. He said the criminal accusations are coming from a disgruntled former member of the Carbon Nation family.

“She said she was here under false imprisonment. We have live documentation of when we said, ‘Hey, if you want to leave, you can leave, nobody is forcing you to stay here,’” Musa said.

According to a 2017 report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Bishop is a former model, stripper, and barber.

Bishop also has ties to Atlanta dating back to at least 2009. Around 2016, he and his followers moved to Central America, then to Honduras, and then to Costa Rica, until they were forced to leave in 2017.

In 2020, reports show Bishop was arrested in Hawaii for breaking COVID-19 quarantine rules. It is not clear when he returned to Atlanta.

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