OGLETHORPE, Ga. — The alleged cult leader, Eligio Bishop, who is mostly known as "Natureboy," was hospitalized after being involved in a fight in prison on Wednesday, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
It happened at Macon State Prison, where authorities stated he was released from the hospital and received "non-life-threatening injuries."
The incident happened while Bishop was serving a life sentence after being convicted of rape, false imprisonment and three counts of prohibition on nude or sexually explicit electronic transmissions earlier this year.
The 40-year-old is the alleged leader of the "Carbon Nation" group. He was arrested in April 2022. A grand jury later indicted him on five charges, including rape in July 2022.
The case was in part initiated when a former member of the alleged 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.
During the trial, some of the witnesses gave statements to the court, sharing some of the abuse they experienced. One of them even described Bishop as “a monster to us all."
"Now you are a prisoner, like you prisoned us," she said.
Bishop, who the judge told to direct his comments to her, made a statement, claiming he wasn't upset. He repeated several times, "I forgive you" and "I still love you" in court.
The Georgia Department of Corrections Office of Professional Standards said they are investigating the incident as a part of "standard procedure."
Bishop at one point maintained a robust social media presence, with an Instagram account with nearly 25,000 followers and a YouTube following with more than 90,000 subscribers to his channel.
At one point his group appeared to be centered around sexual and naturalist themes, and they were reportedly thrown out of Costa Rica, other Central American countries, and during the pandemic, Hawaii. Social media accounts later indicated the group reoriented around Bishop's own messianic self-image and Black liberation messaging.
Posts were heavy on the number 3 and ancient Egyptian iconography, with Bishop referred to as "Th3 3God" in the accounts.
