A Tennessee pastor who spent years traveling across the country for his ministry has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury convicted him of raping a child. His wife was also found guilty of helping facilitate the abuse, authorities said.
Benjamin Garlick, 35, was convicted Monday in Rutherford County 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. The verdict came after a two-week trial.
Circuit Court Judge Barry Tidwell sentenced Garlick to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the aggravated rape convictions, the Murfreesboro Police Department said. Garlick is set to be sentenced Nov. 10 on the remaining convictions.
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. Her sentencing is also scheduled for Nov. 10.
Benjamin Garlick, left, and his wife, Shaantal Garlick, were convicted of child abuse-related offenses following a two-week trial in Rutherford County, Tenn. (Murfreesboro TN Police Department)
The investigation began in August 2023, when detectives with the Murfreesboro Police Department’s Special Victims Unit opened a case involving the sexual abuse of a child who was 5 years old at the time. Police said the abuse took place over multiple years.
As investigators continued looking into the allegations, they identified two additional victims, according to police.
Detectives also concluded that Shaantal Garlick knowingly neglected one victim in a manner that harmed the child’s health and welfare and that she assisted in the sexual abuse, police 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,” Det. James Wilkinson, lead investigator, said after the convictions.
“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.”
Benjamin and Shaantal Garlick are pictured together before their arrests. Benjamin Garlick, a traveling Tennessee pastor, was convicted of aggravated rape of a child and other child sex crimes. Shaantal Garlick was convicted of facilitating aggravated rape of a child and aggravated child neglect. (Internet Archive Wayback Machine/Laespada.org)
Garlick’s life outside the courtroom stood in stark contrast to the crimes for which he was convicted. Murfreesboro police said their investigation showed he had spent several years traveling as a minister, primarily focused on the Hispanic community, and that he and his wife had traveled across the country.
WSMV previously reported that Garlick helped run La Espada, a Murfreesboro-based ministry for Spanish speakers. The station reported that videos and images posted online showed Garlick and his sermons connected with churches in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota and Texas.
The couple also described deep family ties to the ministry in biographies that appeared on La Espada’s former website and remain available through the Internet Archive. The site said La Espada was founded by Garlick’s grandfather, Rolando Garlick, and showed Benjamin working with the ministry under the direction of his late father, Daniel Garlick, by at least 2015.
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 and working with La Espada to reach the Hispanic community with the Gospel.
The Murfreesboro Police Department’s Special Victims Unit launched its investigation into Benjamin Garlick in August 2023. (Murfreesboro TN Police Department)
Benjamin and Shaantal Garlick were arrested in September 2023. The case continued to grow, and a Rutherford County grand jury reindicted the couple in March 2024, according to Murfreesboro police.
As investigators pursued the case, Special Victims Unit detectives publicly urged potential victims to come forward, particularly people in the Hispanic community, police said.
Shaantal Garlick, who had been free on bond, was taken into custody following Monday’s verdict, police said. Both she and her husband are being held at the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center.
