Guilty Pleas in Army Intimate Image Cases: How Often, and What Came Next

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Based on 18 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Plea Agreement in Every Case

All 18 guilty pleas in this group are recorded with a plea agreement (18 of 18). Army records say whether there was an agreement, not what it said. The sentences below are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Confinement Terms

All 18 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 16 of the sentences included confinement (89%). The median confinement was 4 months. That is lower than the 5-month median for all Army guilty pleas in those years.

Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 1 year or longer. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

Punitive Discharges Were Less Common Than Army-Wide

A punitive discharge followed 67% of enlisted convictions: 10 bad-conduct discharges and 2 dishonorable discharges. For all Army guilty pleas in those years, the rate was 75%. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Charges in the Same Cases

Article 117a was the only charge in 4 of the 18 cases. Article 134 (general article) was the most common companion, in 7 cases. Article 115 (communicating threats) appeared in 5 and Article 128 (assault) in 4. Article 90 (disobeying an officer) appeared in 3 and Article 92 (orders violation) in 2.

General Courts-Martial and Rank

General courts-martial heard 12 of the cases and special courts-martial heard 6. The general share was 67%, about the same as the 68% for all Army guilty pleas in those years. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 67% of the accused, NCOs 33%, and officers 0%. Across all Army guilty pleas in those years, junior enlisted members were 60%. The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A military judge alone decided guilt in 18 of 18 cases with the forum listed.

Trial Years

The 18 trials ran from February 2021 through March 2025. The records show 6 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 3 in 2024, and 1 in 2025.

Law Changes in These Years

Covered offenses, including sexual assault, domestic violence, and murder, have been in the hands of special trial counsel since December 28, 2023, who now decide whether to prosecute them. Separately, when every guilty finding rests on an offense after December 27, 2023, sentencing is done by the military judge within new parameters. Neither change can be traced in these records, which list trial dates and not offense dates.

Earlier, on January 1, 2019, the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect, with written plea agreements, fixed panel sizes, and judge-alone special courts-martial limited to six months and no punitive discharge.

Outside These Records

Only cases that reached a court-martial are counted. Nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, and cases with no action do not appear. The records do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: 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.