A former pastor pleaded guilty to eight counts of child exploitation in federal court on Monday.
Joshua Henley, 33, a pastor and former Benton County, Tennessee resident who also volunteered as a girls basketball coach at Holladay Primary School in Tennessee admitted to producing child sexual abuse material involving three minors, transporting a minor from Tennessee to Indiana with the intent to engage in sexual activity, sending obscene videos and images to a minor and possessing and transporting child sex abuse materials, according to the Department of Justice.
In April 2021, Henley moved to Indiana and started working as a youth pastor at the Washington Avenue Church of Christ in Evansville.
In June 2021, Henley drove back to Tennessee to pick up a female identified as “Minor C” and took her back to Indiana so she could help at his Vacation Bible School there, according to a press release from the DOJ. Henley had sex with her while in Indiana. She had just turned fifteen at the time. She later disclosed that Henley had been engaging in sexual activity with her since she was thirteen. She reportedly later told a family member Henley had sex with her on more than one occasion in Benton County.
He also asked her to take sexually explicit pictures and videos and send them to him.
Also in June 2021, another girl identified as “Minor B” told Benton County Sheriff’s Department that Henley began to touch her on the top of her thighs and perform sexual acts in front of her when she was about 12 years old.
Henley was arrested on June 18, 2021, as he was driving Minor C back to Benton County.
Investigators obtained a warrant to search his cellphone and found sexually explicit images of both girls and a video of Henley having sex with another minor the DOJ identifies as “Minor A”.
Metadata indicated the video was produced on November 6, 2020, a few months after the minor turned 14. Investigators also found internet searches for “how many years for child molest,” and “how long does a molestation case take,”
The Washington Avenue Church of Christ in Evansville fired Henley after his arrest and is cooperating with the investigation.
Henley’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for August 23 at 10 a.m. Henley will be incarcerated for a minimum fifteen years to a maximum sentence of life in prison.