A Rutherford County jury convicted traveling pastor Benjamin Garlick on seven counts of aggravated child rape and sentenced him to life without parole, while his wife, Shaantal, was found guilty of facilitating the abuse.
Garlick, 35, ran a Murfreesboro-based ministry that took him to churches across at least four states. He spent years presenting himself as a man of God devoted to serving the Hispanic community. A jury that heard two weeks of evidence saw something else entirely: a serial predator who raped a child as young as five, aided by the woman who shared his home and his pulpit.
Circuit Court Judge Barry Tidwell handed down the mandatory life-without-parole sentence on the aggravated rape convictions immediately after the verdict. Garlick still faces sentencing on his remaining convictions, six counts of aggravated sexual battery, one count of solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor, and two violations of Tennessee's Child Protection Act, on Nov. 10.
Shaantal Garlick, 32, was convicted of two counts of facilitation of aggravated rape of a child and two counts of aggravated child neglect. Investigators determined she knowingly neglected a victim in a way that harmed the child's health and welfare and assisted in the sexual abuse. She had been free on bond throughout the trial. The judge ordered her into custody the moment the verdict came down. She will be sentenced Nov. 10 as well.
Both are now held at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center.
The Murfreesboro Police Department's Special Victims Unit opened its investigation in August 2023 after learning of the abuse of a five-year-old girl. Within weeks, detectives identified two additional victims. The abuse, police said, had gone on for years.
Both Benjamin and Shaantal Garlick were arrested in September 2023. A Rutherford County grand jury reindicted the couple in March 2024, reflecting the expanded scope of the case as investigators uncovered more evidence and more victims.
Detectives publicly urged anyone else who may have been victimized to come forward, specifically reaching out to members of the Hispanic community, the population the Garlicks' ministry claimed to serve.
Benjamin Garlick helped run La Espada, a Spanish-language ministry founded by his grandfather, Rolando Garlick, and based in Murfreesboro. Archived pages from the ministry's former website, still available through the Internet Archive, show Benjamin working with the organization under the direction of his late father, Daniel Garlick, by at least 2015.
On that site, Benjamin wrote that he began traveling with his father as a child, felt drawn to the ministry at a young age, and later became an evangelist. Shaantal wrote that she met Benjamin at a youth conference when she was 18 and described her calling as serving God full time alongside her husband and working with La Espada to reach the Hispanic community with the Gospel.
Nashville television station WSMV previously reported that videos and images posted online showed Garlick and his sermons connected with churches in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, and Texas. That traveling ministry gave the couple repeated, trusted access to families and children in congregations far from Murfreesboro, a geographic reach that makes the detectives' public appeal for additional victims all the more urgent.
Between the two defendants, the jury returned guilty verdicts on every count. Benjamin Garlick alone was convicted on sixteen charges. Shaantal Garlick was convicted on four. The life-without-parole sentence covers only the seven aggravated-rape counts. Whatever additional prison time the remaining nine convictions carry for Benjamin, and whatever sentence Shaantal receives, will be determined at the November hearing.
Det. James Wilkinson, the lead investigator, credited the multi-agency team that built the case over nearly two years.
"The Murfreesboro Police Department thanks all members of the Child Protective Investigative Team (CPIT) for their tireless work throughout this investigation and trial, ensuring the victims' voices were heard and justice was served."
Wilkinson added a pointed reminder of why the work matters.
"The children of Rutherford County are safer because of the compassion, dedication, and commitment each member of the CPIT Team brings to their roles every day."
Those children are safer now. But the open questions remain: How many other congregations welcomed this couple into their communities? How many other families trusted them with access to their kids? And did anyone in a position to act see warning signs and stay silent?
The Garlicks built their lives around a claim of moral authority. The jury measured that claim against the evidence and answered with a verdict that will keep Benjamin Garlick locked away for good. Accountability, when it finally arrives, does not care what title you gave yourself.
