Is Air Force Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2016–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Air Force

Based on 244 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

Higher in 2022 and 2023, Lower Since

As a share of Air Force convictions with offenses listed, Article 120 was 7% in 2016, 11% in 2018, and 6% in 2020. The share was 10% in 2021 and 14% in both 2022 and 2023. It was 8% in 2024 and 7% in 2025.

By count of convictions, the highest year was 2018, with 33. Across 2016–2018, Article 120 was part of 67 of 786 Air Force convictions. Across 2023–2025, it was part of 47 of 494. Shares allow years with more or fewer cases overall to be compared.

Cases Charged Each Year

There were 15 cases charging Article 120 in 2016, 21 in 2017, 34 in 2018, 21 in 2019, and 13 in 2020. There were 22 in 2021, 31 in 2022, 24 in 2023, 34 in 2024, and 29 in 2025. The 244 cases are 9% of the 2,795 Air Force courts-martial in those years.

Article 120 was the only charge in 125 of the 244 cases. The most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 53 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 37, Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 20, Article 92 (orders violation) in 18, and Article 120c (indecent recording and exposure) in 16.

Most Cases Were Contested, and Members Heard Most

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 142 records list a plea. 117 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 25 were guilty pleas, so 82% were contested, compared with 48% across the Air Force. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Members heard 61% of cases with the forum listed: 97 enlisted panels and 51 officer panels. A military judge alone decided 93. Members heard 87 of the 117 contested cases (74%).

Confinement Was Measured in Years

208 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 184 of those sentences included confinement (88%). The median confinement was 2.5 years, compared with 4 months Air Force-wide. A quarter of sentences were 6 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence.

26% of convictions were sentenced to 5 years or more, compared with 7% in the rest of the Air Force. 38% were sentenced to more than 1 year but under 5 years, compared with 16%. In all, 133 of 208 convictions (64%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 23%. Only 12% were sentenced to under 6 months, compared with 48% elsewhere in the Air Force. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.

Almost All Cases Were General Courts-Martial

233 of the 244 cases were general courts-martial (95%), compared with 51% for all Air Force cases. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

The median confinement was 2.7 years in the 233 general courts-martial and 4 months in the 11 special courts-martial.

Discharges and Dismissals

168 of 189 convicted enlisted members (89%) received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge, compared with 56% across the Air Force. 146 of those were dishonorable. 19 convicted officers or warrant officers appear in these cases, and 16 were dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rank of the Accused and Locations

The accused were 147 junior enlisted members, 77 NCOs, and 20 officers. This mix is similar to all Air Force cases in those years.

JBSA - Lackland, Texas, had the most cases, with 10. Nellis AFB, Nevada, and Scott AFB, Illinois, each had 9. RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, and the USAF Academy, Colorado, each had 7. Together they account for 17% of the 244 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not mean a base has a problem with this offense.

Law Changes and What the Records Do Not Show

Article 120 was rewritten in 2012 and amended again for offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Each case is charged under the version in force when the offense happened. Article 120 is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute it. The share of convictions was lower in 2024 and 2025, the same period as that change. The records cannot show whether one caused the other, and they give no offense dates.

Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in a full acquittal, so this post gives no acquittal rate for Article 120. The records also never report plea agreements, do not describe the evidence, and do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Sentences vs. Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025

About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.