Fewer or More? Sexual Assault Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Army

Based on 491 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Cases Each Year

The records show 491 Army cases charging Article 120 between January 2021 and December 2025, or 20% of all 2,422 Army courts-martial in those years. The count fell every year: 156 in 2021, 125 in 2022, 95 in 2023, 69 in 2024, and 46 in 2025.

Convictions also fell. Convictions that included Article 120 went from 79 in 2021 to 65, 49, 37, and then 25 in 2025. As a share of all Army convictions with offenses listed, that was 17% in 2021, 15% in 2022, 12% in 2023, 9% in 2024, and 6% in 2025. Shares make years with more or fewer total cases comparable.

The Decline and the 2023 Rule Change

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. Article 120 is one of them. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge also sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters.

Both rules depend on the offense date, which these records do not give. Trials from 2024 on include old-rule and new-rule cases. The number of Article 120 cases began to fall before the change and kept falling after it. The records cannot show whether the change had any effect.

Most Cases Were Contested

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. In these cases, 347 were not-guilty or mixed pleas and 144 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 71%, compared with 30% across all Army cases. Of the 144 guilty pleas, 127 are recorded with a plea agreement and 17 have no entry. Army records note whether an agreement existed, not its terms.

Of 347 contested cases that reached a verdict, 156 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty on every charge. That 45% rate is higher than the 38% across all Army cases. Another 146 ended in a partial acquittal, meaning the accused was acquitted of at least one charge but convicted of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common.

Judges, Panels, and Court Level

The accused usually chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. A judge alone decided 256 of 481 cases with the forum listed (53%), and members heard 225: 190 enlisted panels and 35 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 222 of 337 (66%).

Nearly every case was a general court-martial. General courts-martial, which can impose any lawful sentence including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge, made up 96% of these cases (469 of 491). Those cases had a median confinement of 2 years, and 71% were contested. The 22 special courts-martial had a median of 5 months, and 55% were contested.

Sentences Longer Than Across the Army

Of 335 convictions, 292 included confinement. The median sentence was 1.8 years, compared with 6 months for all Army cases. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 4 years or longer. The records list 1 life sentence.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and they cover every charge in the case. Terms longer than one year were given in 187 of 335 convictions (56%), compared with 28% Army-wide. Terms of 5 years or more were given in 18% of convictions here, compared with 8% across the Army.

Punitive Discharges and Dismissals

For enlisted members, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. One was adjudged in 81% of enlisted convictions here, compared with 73% in all Army cases. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge. There were 176 dishonorable discharges and 75 bad-conduct discharges.

The records list 27 convicted officers or warrant officers, and 20 were dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A sentence without one does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Other Charges in the Same Case

Article 120 was the only charge in 186 of the 491 cases. In the other cases, the most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 174 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 72, Article 92 (orders violation) in 57, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 38, and Article 107 (false official statement) in 34.

The sentence covers every charge. A case with sexual assault and assault or domestic violence charges has one sentence for all the convictions.

Who Was Accused and Where

Junior enlisted members, E-1 to E-4, made up 57% of the accused, NCOs 35%, and officers 8%. Across the Army, junior enlisted members were 55%, which is similar.

The 5 installations with the most of these cases were Fort Hood (60), Fort Bragg (54), Joint Base Lewis-McChord (52), Camp Humphreys (32), and Fort Campbell (31). Together they had 47% of the 491 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a high count alone does not show much about a particular base.

Limits of the Data

The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Cases handled through nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action at all are outside these records.

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. Army Courts-Martial

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.