A judge denied bond Friday for the man accused of raping and beating a woman at St. Timothy United Methodist Church.

John Russell Carver, 50, was ordered to appear again in DeKalb County Magistrate Court on April 6. He's charged with rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault in the Feb. 26 incident.

Police say Carver raped a 53-year-old employee of the Stone Mountain church, stole her cell phone and sold it hours later at Underground Atlanta. Detectives identified Carver as a suspect after the GBI connected him to the crime with DNA.

Carver, who has a long rap sheet, was arrested on March 7 on unrelated charges in Fulton County.

He was then transferred to the DeKalb County Jail.

DeKalb County Public Safety Director William Miller, who led a community meeting at the church after the attack, told the crowd about a proposal that would require new businesses to install surveillance cameras, according to Channel 2 Action News.

"That would help us like you wouldn't believe," Miller said at the meeting.

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Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com