Fewer or More? Indecent Recording And Exposure Charges at Air Force Courts-Martial, 2016–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 120c › Air Force

Based on 56 cases · 2016–2025 · Air Force records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Small Offense With Long Sentences

Confinement was part of 91% of the 56 convictions. The median term was 1.6 years, compared with a median of 4 months across all Air Force cases. A quarter of the terms were 5.1 years or longer.

By band, 25% of convictions included 5 years or more, compared with 7% Air Force-wide. Another 29% included more than 1 year but under 5 years, compared with 16%. In all, 30 of 56 convictions (54%) included more than one year, compared with 23%. Sentences under 6 months were the largest band Air Force-wide at 48%, but made up 12% here. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case.

Often Charged With Sexual Assault

Article 120c was the only charge in 21 of the 56 cases. In the other cases, the most common additional charges were Article 120 (sexual assault) and Article 134 (general article), each in 16 cases. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) appeared in 6. Article 92 (orders violation) and Article 131b (obstruction, numbered since 2019) appeared in 5 each.

A sentence covers every charge in a case. The long terms above therefore include cases where Article 120c was charged with those other offenses.

Cases by Year

The yearly count was 3 in 2016, 7 in 2017, 7 in 2018, 6 in 2019, 3 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 8 in 2022, 6 in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 7 in 2025. The highest count was 8, in 2022. In all, the 56 cases equal 2% of the 2,795 Air Force courts-martial in those years.

As a share of Air Force convictions with offenses listed, Article 120c ranged from 1% in 2016 to 4% in 2022, 2023, and 2025. Across 2016–2018 it was part of 17 of 786 convictions (2%). Across 2023–2025 it was part of 16 of 494 (3%).

Pleas and the Forum

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of the 56 records, 31 list a plea: 20 guilty pleas and 11 contested cases. The contested share was 35%, compared with 48% Air Force-wide. Air Force records from 2016 to 2019 rarely list a guilty plea.

Of the 11 contested cases, 4 ended in a partial acquittal (36%): the accused was found not guilty of at least one charge or specification and guilty of another.

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel decides guilt. Members heard 27% of cases with the forum listed: 7 by enlisted panels and 8 by officer panels. A military judge alone decided 40. Among contested cases, members heard 7 of 11 (64%).

General Courts-Martial Heard Most Cases

Of the 56 cases, 45 were general and 11 were special courts-martial. The general share was 80%, compared with 51% in the rest of the Air Force. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year.

The median confinement was 2 years at the 45 general courts-martial. It was 6 months at the 11 special courts-martial.

Discharges After Conviction

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. For officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. Of 53 convicted enlisted members, 42 received a punitive discharge: 24 dishonorable and 18 bad-conduct. The rate across all Air Force cases was 56%. The records list 3 convicted officers or warrant officers, and all 3 were dismissed. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Rank and Installation

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 57% of the accused, NCOs 38%, and officers 5%. Across the Air Force, junior enlisted members made up 62%.

Kadena AB, Japan tried the most of these cases, with 4. Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina and JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey had 3 each. Nellis AFB, Nevada and Misawa AB, Japan had 2 each. Together they account for 25% of the 56 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so these counts do not single out a base.

Why No Acquittal Rate, and Other Limits

Air Force records rarely list the charges in a case that ends in full acquittal. An acquittal rate for one offense would therefore undercount acquittals, and this post leaves it out. The records also never report plea agreements, give no offense dates, and leave out nonjudicial punishment and administrative separations.

Article 120c is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute it. That change and the Military Justice Act of 2016, which took effect on January 1, 2019, fall within these years. The records cannot show whether either change affected the numbers.

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

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.