Former Benton County Coach and Youth Pastor Sentenced to 45 Years for Exploiting Children

Memphis, TN – 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 interstate with the intent to engage in 
sexual activity. United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz announced the sentence today.

According to the information presented in court, from 2017 until April 2021, Henley was the pastor 
at Holladay Church of Christ and coached the girls’ basketball team at Holladay Elementary. In 
April 2021, Henley left Benton County to become the youth pastor at a church in Indiana. In June 
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 driving 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.

Henley has worked with young people in other states including Oklahoma and Texas.

United States District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Henley to 540 months in federal prison to 
be followed by ten 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 Department, the Evansville Police Department and TBI’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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For more information, please contact Public Information Officer Cherri Green at (901)
544-4231 or cherri.green@usdoj.gov. Follow @WDTNNews on Twitter for office news
and updates.

Department of Justice
Office of the U.S. Attorney
Western District of Tennessee

Source: Justice.gov