Black Cult Leader Who Preached Veganism, Polygamy Faces Rape, False Imprisonment Raps

An alleged cult leader whose beliefs ranged from nudism to polygamy was arrested and charged on Friday, April 15, for rape and false imprisonment as he and his cult have been accused of abusive behavior toward their members.

Eligio Bishop from the alleged cult Carbon Nation, was brought in front of a judge at DeKalb County, Georgia for the preliminary hearing of his case, with the judge refusing to set bail for Bishop largely due to the severity of the charges, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.

Bishop had allegedly raped and falsely imprisoned a woman before using explicit photographs that he owned of her and sending them to people without the consent of the victim, the Daily Beast reported.

“We teach sexual education and we believe in nudity. And so that’s one of the charges that’s trying to be brought against my chief that’s for revenge porn, but the female that was here, the woman that was here, she gave consent to actually release it for sexual education, it’s not just like porn, it’s for educational purposes,” member Daylin Armstead said.

Carbon Nation as a group has largely believed in polygamy as well as veganism, and members of the group have been forced to give Bishop their financial information in exchange for learning his teachings.

The group has built a following online, with over 25,000 followers on Instagram and 90,000 on YouTube. Their content online varies from instructional videos to music videos, and they have used the platform to ask fans for donations. Bishop has used that platform to deny the crimes that have been accused of him.

“They want to crucify me, they want me dead, there’s hate that surrounds me, you can feel it, just like any other prophet—only me, I’m the return of the Christ,” he said. “We are here to be awakened. So this will not turn out like people think this is going to turn out.”

Former member Erikka Carroll has said that she had gone to an island in Costa Rica to learn more about the teachings of the group, only to find herself experiencing physical and mental abuse during her stay.

“Those people that are [still in the cult], their only hope is for [Bishop] to be locked up right now. For him to be locked up period. It’s too many things he has gotten away with,” she said.