Army Child Endangerment Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences

Trends › By Offense › Article 119b › Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4)

Based on 26 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Longer Sentences Than Across the Service

Every one of the 26 cases ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 22 of those sentences included confinement (85%). The median term was 1.1 years, longer than the 10 months across all Army Article 119b cases. A quarter of the terms were 1.8 years or more.

Terms over one year were given in 12 of 26 convictions (46%), higher than the 32% service-wide. Most of that difference is in the band of more than 1 year but under 5 years: 42% of convictions here, compared with 28%. Terms under 6 months were less common: 15%, compared with 28%. The other bands were about the same as the service. No confinement was given in 15% of convictions, compared with 16%. Terms of 6 months to 1 year were 23%, compared with 24%. Terms of 5 years or more were 4% in both groups.

The figures are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial for every charge in the case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal.

Domestic Violence in Most Cases

Article 119b was the only charge in 3 of the 26 cases. Article 128b (domestic violence) was also charged in 16, Article 128 (assault) in 10, Article 92 (orders violation) in 6, and Article 115 (communicating threats) and Article 134 (general article) in 4 each.

A sentence covers all charges together, so these other offenses are part of every figure on this page. The records do not show how much of a sentence is for any single article.

Guilty Pleas, Usually With Agreements

Of the 26 accused, 21 pleaded guilty and 5 contested at least one charge, meaning they entered a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share, 19%, is lower than the 43% across all Army Article 119b cases.

Of the 21 guilty pleas, 18 are recorded with a plea agreement and 3 have no entry. Army records state whether an agreement existed but not what it said, so these sentences cannot be compared with any agreed limit.

Punitive Discharges for Most

A punitive discharge was adjudged in 85% of enlisted convictions in this group, compared with 70% across all Army Article 119b cases. Courts adjudged 18 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges.

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge imposed by the court. A soldier whose sentence included neither could still be separated administratively, a step these records do not show.

Few Cases Went to a Panel

A military judge alone decided 23 cases, and enlisted panels heard the other 3. Members decided 12% of cases, compared with 32% across all Army Article 119b cases. The accused usually chooses between a judge and a panel. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, and this group had a low contested share.

General courts-martial heard 19 of the cases and special courts-martial 7. The general share, 73%, is about the same as the 75% service-wide. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than one year of confinement or a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is limited to one year and a bad-conduct discharge. The 12 sentences over one year in this group came from general courts-martial.

Trial Years and Installations

The trials took place from March 2021 to July 2025: 7 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 7 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021, after the services were required to begin publishing trial records under Article 140a by December 2020.

Fort Bliss tried 5 cases, and Fort Hood, Fort Polk, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, and Fort Bragg tried 3 each. These five installations tried 65% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

All 26 accused were junior enlisted. Across all Army Article 119b cases, 49% were.

What These Records Leave Out

The records do not describe the child's circumstances, any injury, the evidence, or plea terms. They give trial dates, not offense dates, so they cannot show which cases came under the rules that took effect on December 28, 2023, for covered offenses such as domestic violence. Cases handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action are not included. With only 26 cases, a few results can change any share.

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.