A Murfreesboro, Tennessee, jury convicted 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.
Circuit Court Judge Barry Tidwell handed down the life sentence Monday after a two-week trial in Rutherford County that exposed years of sexual violence against children carried out under the cover of a family-run ministry. Benjamin Garlick, 35, was convicted on seven counts of aggravated rape of a child, 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.
His wife, Shaantal Garlick, 32, was convicted of two counts of facilitation of aggravated rape of a child and two counts of aggravated child neglect. She had been free on bond before the verdict. Officers took her into custody as soon as the jury came back. Both are now held at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center.
The investigation began in August 2023, when the Murfreesboro Police Department's Special Victims Unit opened a case involving a girl who was five years old at the time. As detectives dug deeper, they identified at least two more victims. The abuse, the New York Post reported, stretched over several years.
Both Benjamin and Shaantal Garlick were arrested in September 2023. A Rutherford County grand jury reindicted the couple in March 2024.
Benjamin Garlick ran La Espada, a Murfreesboro-based ministry focused on reaching Spanish-speaking communities with the Gospel. The ministry was a family operation. His grandfather, Rolando Garlick, founded it. Archived copies of the ministry's former website show Benjamin working under the direction of his late father, Daniel Garlick, by at least 2015.
In his biography on the site, Benjamin Garlick 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 Garlick 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 while working with La Espada to reach the Hispanic community.
The ministry's reach extended well beyond middle Tennessee. WSMV, a Nashville television station, previously reported that videos and images posted online showed Garlick connected with churches in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, and Texas. That geographic footprint is one reason investigators publicly urged anyone who may have been victimized, particularly members of the Hispanic community, to come forward.
Shaantal Garlick's convictions paint a picture not of passive ignorance but of active participation. Police said she knowingly neglected a victim in a way that affected the child's health and welfare and assisted in the sexual abuse. The jury agreed, finding her guilty on all four counts she faced.
Her sentencing, along with Benjamin Garlick's sentencing on his remaining convictions beyond the aggravated rape counts, is scheduled for November 10. The life-without-parole sentence already imposed covers only the seven aggravated rape convictions. Additional prison time could follow on the other charges.
Det. James Wilkinson, the lead investigator on the case, credited the multi-agency effort that brought the Garlicks to trial. In a statement after the verdict, Wilkinson said:
"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:
"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."
The Child Protective Investigative Team, a joint unit that pairs law enforcement with child welfare specialists, worked the case from its earliest stages through the two-week trial. For cases involving the youngest and most vulnerable victims, that kind of coordinated approach matters. A five-year-old cannot advocate for herself. Someone has to build the case on her behalf, and in Rutherford County, they did.
Several questions hang over the case as the November sentencing date nears. Investigators have not publicly said whether additional suspects were identified beyond the Garlicks. The specific time frame of the abuse, described only as spanning "several years", has not been detailed. And given the ministry's connections to churches in at least four other states, it remains unclear whether more victims may still come forward.
Detectives have kept that door open. The public appeal to the Hispanic community was deliberate. La Espada's mission targeted Spanish-speaking families, the same population that can be hardest to reach when trust in institutions is already fragile.
Benjamin Garlick used a pulpit and a family name to position himself as a shepherd. The jury saw the evidence of what he did with that access, and Judge Tidwell made sure he will never have it again. Shaantal Garlick, who by all accounts knew what was happening and helped it continue, awaits her own reckoning in November.
When someone entrusted with the care of children betrays that trust this completely, life without parole is not harsh. It is the bare minimum a civilized society owes the victims.
