A traveling pastor who solicited tens of thousands of dollars from churches and supporters now faces life behind bars after a jury convicted him of raping three girls, all younger than eight, and his wife was convicted the same day of helping it happen.

Benjamin Garlick, 35, was convicted Monday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, after a two-week trial that forced three young victims to take the witness stand and describe what the man who preached the Gospel had done to them. The jury handed down a life sentence without the possibility of parole on the rape charges alone. Additional charges still await sentencing on November 10.

His wife, Shaantal Garlick, 32, was convicted the same day of facilitating aggravated child rape and aggravated child neglect. She was taken back into custody immediately after the verdict and also faces sentencing in November. The couple had six children of their own.

Nine years of abuse hidden behind a pulpit

The crimes spanned nearly a decade, from July 2014 through August 2023, the Daily Mail reported. At least three incidents of sexual abuse occurred in July 2014 alone. The victims' relationship to the Garlicks was not disclosed in court.

The Murfreesboro Police Department opened its investigation in August 2023 after learning that a five-year-old girl may have been sexually assaulted by Benjamin in 2021. Detectives later identified two additional victims, all under eight years old.

Both Benjamin and Shaantal were arrested in September 2023. Benjamin remained in jail on an $825,000 bond throughout the proceedings. Shaantal's path through the justice system was more convoluted, she bailed out after her initial arrest, saw her charges dropped, was then reindicted on a $75,000 bond, bailed out a second time, and remained free until Monday's conviction put her back behind bars.

No explanation has been made public for why Shaantal's original charges were dropped before the reindictment.

Police stated that Shaantal "knowingly neglected one of them, 'affecting the child's health and welfare, and assisted in the commission of the sexual abuse.'" That is not a passive failure. That is active participation in the destruction of a child's life.

Seven counts of aggravated child rape led to the life sentence

The New York Post reported that Benjamin was convicted on seven counts of aggravated rape of a child, six counts of aggravated sexual battery, and additional child exploitation charges. Shaantal was convicted on two counts of facilitation of aggravated rape of a child and two counts of aggravated child neglect.

The sheer volume of charges reflects a pattern, not a single lapse, not an isolated incident, but years of predatory conduct directed at the most defenseless people in his orbit.

Assistant District Attorney General Hugh Ammerman praised the children who testified, telling the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal:

"All three victims showed great courage and resilience when called to the witness stand."

Ammerman added:

"I hope that the jury's decision will help them to heal and put these events behind them as they return their focus to the day-to-day of being kids."

Those words carry weight when you consider what "the day-to-day of being kids" means for children who endured what prosecutors described, and then had to recount it in open court.

Det. James Wilkinson, the lead investigator, told Fox News that "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 Physical Abuse and Neglect Investigation Team, the CPIT, handled the case from its earliest stages.

A traveling ministry that spanned at least five states

Benjamin Garlick grew up on the road with his father Daniel, a traveling preacher. He felt compelled to follow the same path, eventually connecting with the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist movement, a decentralized strain of Christianity that rejects denominational hierarchy. That lack of institutional oversight meant no bishop, no board, and no formal accountability structure stood between Benjamin Garlick and the congregations that trusted him.

The family's ministry, La Espada, served Spanish-speaking communities and was founded by Benjamin's grandfather Rolando. The Garlicks were connected to the Murfreesboro congregation since 2015, but their reach extended to churches in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, and Texas. The ministry is now closed.

Cases like this are not confined to one state or one denomination. An Ohio pastor and school bus driver was recently charged with child sex crimes and fired by his church, another instance of a person in spiritual authority exploiting access to children.

Benjamin met Shaantal at a youth camp when she was 18. They married, had six children, and built a public image as a devout family spreading the faith across the country. That image was a lie.

He asked churches for $40,000 while the abuse continued

In 2022, while the abuse was still ongoing, according to the timeline established by investigators, Benjamin Garlick launched a GoFundMe campaign asking supporters and churches to donate $40,000 for a ministry van. The appeal was written in both English and Spanish.

The pitch dripped with spiritual language. Benjamin wrote that his wife "having faith to move mountains, prayed for a mini-van with everything she knew we would need or want in our new car." He recounted asking Shaantal where the money would come from. Her answer, he wrote: "From God."

He told supporters they had 60 days of interest-free financing and broke down the math for them: "That's as few as forty churches each giving one thousand, or eighty giving 500." He closed with a postscript: "Please look and pray what God would have you give to help us pay for this van and reach this goal."

Those churches and donors were being asked to fund the operations of a man who, prosecutors would later prove, was raping children under eight years old. Every dollar given in good faith underwrote a ministry that served as cover for predation.

The exploitation of religious trust for criminal ends is a recurring pattern. A Florida pastor was arrested for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy while allegedly hiding his HIV-positive status, another case where a congregation's faith was weaponized against the vulnerable.

Shaantal filed for divorce, but accountability came late

At some point after the arrests, Shaantal Garlick filed for divorce from Benjamin. The timing has not been disclosed publicly. Whatever her reasons, the filing came long after the abuse had been carried out and long after police say she helped facilitate it.

Her legal journey raises its own questions. Why were her initial charges dropped? Who made that decision, and on what basis? The reindictment suggests prosecutors believed the original dismissal was a mistake, or that new evidence emerged. Either way, a woman accused of helping a man rape children walked free on bond twice before a jury finally held her accountable.

The Daily Mail reached out to Benjamin's lawyer and family for comment. No response was reported.

The case fits a grim pattern that extends well beyond Tennessee. A retired 86-year-old pastor was recently named a suspect after two of his wives' deaths were reclassified as homicides decades later, a reminder that the authority of the pulpit can shield misconduct for years, even generations.

What remains unresolved

Benjamin Garlick's life sentence covers the rape convictions. His remaining charges, the specifics of which have not been detailed publicly, will be sentenced on November 10. Shaantal faces sentencing the same day. The nature of her potential sentence has not been disclosed.

No information has emerged about whether any other individuals connected to the ministry or the family's network of churches were investigated. The Garlicks operated across at least five states over many years. Whether anyone else knew, suspected, or looked the other way remains an open question.

The victims' identities remain protected, as they should. Their relationship to the Garlicks was never revealed in court. What is known is that three girls, none older than seven, endured years of abuse at the hands of a man their communities trusted, and that the woman who shared his home and his ministry helped make it possible.

A previous report on this case detailed the couple's arrest and the charges they faced, but the convictions and life sentence mark the conclusion of a prosecution that demanded extraordinary courage from the youngest witnesses imaginable.

Communities of faith deserve leaders who protect children, not predators who exploit them. When the system works, when investigators dig, prosecutors push, and juries listen, the result is what happened Monday in Murfreesboro: a man who hid behind Scripture sent to prison for the rest of his life, and a wife who helped him held to account beside him.