Former pastor sentenced to 45 years for exploiting children

BENTON COUNTY, Tenn. —  A former Benton County man was sentenced to federal prison for exploiting children.

Joshua Henley, 34, formerly of Benton County, has been sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for producing sexually explicit images of a minor, transporting and possessing child exploitation material, and transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in sexual activity.

United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz announced the sentence on Monday.

According to the information presented in court, from 2017 until 2021, Henley was the pastor at Holladay Church of Christ and coached the girls basketball team at Holladay Elementary.

In April of 2021, Henley left Benton County to become the youth pastor at a church in Indiana. In June of 2021, Henley returned to Benton County and transported a teen to Indiana under the guise that she was to assist at his new parish.

Instead, Henley sexually assaulted the teen. Henley was arrested as he was bringing her back to Tennessee.

At the time of Henley’s arrest, he had a cell phone which contained sexually explicit images and videos of two other Tennessee teenagers with which he had contact through Snapchat and FaceTime.

The teens each disclosed that Henley also engaged in sexual activity with them.

United States District Judge Thomas Anderson sentenced Henley to 540 months in federal prison and it is to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Crimes Against Children Task Force, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the Evansville Police Department, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Technical Service Unit.

United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Debra Ireland and Lauren Delery, who prosecuted this case, as well as law enforcement partners who investigated the case.

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