Eligio Bishop Is Accused of Leading a Polygamist Cult Called Carbon Nation — What Is It?

Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault.

The late great Philip Seymour Hoffman once said, "You can look at anything as a cult." And while that is probably true, the actual definition of a cult according to the American Psychological Association does have more information. A cult is is a "religious or quasi-religious group characterized by unusual or atypical beliefs, seclusion from the outside world, and an authoritarian structure." Apparently it requires more than blindly following someone, thought that is certainly a component.

Such is the case for Eligio Bishop who is accused of leading a polygamist cult, says COURT TV. He has officially been charged with "rape, false imprisonment, and sending sexually explicit electronic transmissions without consent." Bishop's trial began Feb. 21, 2024 and is proving to be just as wild as the alleged cult leader himself. Here's what we know about Eligio Bishop's cult.

Stories of Bishop and his cult stretch as far back as 2017, when the CBC sought to figure out who he was. The outlet reported that at the time, he was living in Costa Rica but had previously lived in Atlanta and New Jersey, He described himself as a model and stripper and at one point bragged on social media about accepting money for sex. In 2009 he was "arrested for forcible entry into Georgia," and in 2011 he faced "charges of theft and was arrested for aggravated battery."

Ahead of a trip to Honduras in 2016, Bishop posted photos of himself on Facebook with the caption, "the Ascension journey has begun." He also encouraged people to follow him as he could be their "guide out of the h--- realm." This post convinced a woman by the name of Erikka Carroll to follow Bishop to Honduras. "I was just in a place in my life where I was searching for some spiritual truth," she told Atlanta's 11 Alive News.

Carroll spoke with the outlet after Bishop's arrest in 2022 and told them about her year with the man followers call Nature Boy. "We slept outside in tents," said Caroll. "We wouldn’t live in the house. We would get up, eat fruit because we had to eat vegan, or vegetables and we would get to work." She also revealed that one member gave Bishop $300,000 while another gifted him a plot of land. That's where they ended up living.

Apart from the verbal abuse the group endured, Carroll said she finally left after Bishop physically assaulted his girlfriend in front of the group. "He hit her in the mouth, he slapped her up and punched her a couple of times and then he told her to go to the tent and give him oral s--." explained Carroll. "Once I [saw] that, I was like, ‘Oh no.’ She left the day after, and I left the day after that." Caroll also claims that after she left, Bishop only got worse.

While testifying during his trial, one victim said "Women weren’t allowed to wear shirts, so we started wearing leaves. Women had to have sex with Nature Boy," per 11 Alive News. They went on to say, "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." He also allegedly sexually assaulted one of the victims who was testifying.

In a 2022 interview with police that was played in the courtroom, Bishop denied raping 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 told the officer interviewing him. His alleged victim said the incident occurred when she failed to refer to him as "my king." At that point she said he asked his wife to leave the room, then proceeded to force the victim to have sex with him.

The second victim left the group and was punished by Bishop for doing so. "Nature Boy started leaking videos of me that I didn’t want out there," she said. Both women also testified that Bishop made them cut off all contact with the outside world.