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# How Often Are Contested Army Article 120b Cases Acquitted?
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-acq-2021-2025/
- Published: 2026-10-28T06:33:28.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-03T01:48:08.000Z
- Description: 25 of 78 contested Army courts-martial charging Article 120b (child sexual abuse) from 2021 through 2025 ended in a full acquittal (32%). That rate is lower than the 38% in all contested Army cases.
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Article 120b, Army

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) › [Article 120b](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-120b-courts-martial/) › How Often Are Contested Army Article 120

**Short answer:** 25 of 78 contested Army courts-martial charging Article 120b (child sexual abuse) from 2021 through 2025 ended in a full acquittal (32%). That rate is lower than the 38% in all contested Army cases. For convictions, the median confinement was 8.3 years, compared with 1.5 years in all contested Army cases.

Based on 78 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

## Which Cases Are Counted

Every case in this post is an Army court-martial in which the accused was charged under Article 120b and pleaded not guilty to at least one charge. A not-guilty or mixed plea makes a case contested. No guilty-plea cases are included. This post covers how these trials ended and the sentences that followed a conviction.

The records show 78 such cases, tried from January 2021 through December 2025: 18 in 2021, 15 in 2022, 15 in 2023, 21 in 2024, and 9 in 2025.

## How Often Were These Cases Acquitted?

25 of the 78 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (32%). A full acquittal means not guilty of every charge. That rate is lower than the 38% in all contested Army cases in the same years.

31 cases ended in a partial acquittal (40%). A partial acquittal means not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Army results list findings charge by charge, which is why partial acquittals are common in Army data.

In contested cases, members acquitted in full 38% of the time and military judges 21%. The accused chooses the forum in most cases, so the two groups of cases are not alike. The records cannot show whether the forum affected the result.

## Sentences After a Conviction

Sentences for the 53 convictions were longer than in contested Army cases overall. 91% of convictions included confinement. The median confinement was 8.3 years, compared with 1.5 years in all contested Army cases. A quarter of the sentences were 28 years or longer. 1 was a life sentence.

55% of convictions here were sentenced to 5 years or more, compared with 15% in all contested Army cases. 42 of 53 convictions (79%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 44%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case.

| Adjudged confinement            | Convictions | Share here | Share, all contested Army cases in those years |
| ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| No confinement                  | 5           | 9%         | 25%                                            |
| Under 6 months                  | 2           | 4%         | 22%                                            |
| 6 months to 1 year              | 4           | 8%         | 9%                                             |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 13          | 25%        | 28%                                            |
| 5 years or more                 | 29          | 55%        | 15%                                            |

## Discharges and Dismissals

42 of 47 convicted enlisted members received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (89%), compared with 64% in all contested Army cases. 37 of those were dishonorable discharges, which only a general court-martial can impose.

6 officers or warrant officers were convicted, and 5 were dismissed. Dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

## Who Decided Guilt?

Members decided 55% of the cases with a forum listed: 35 by enlisted panels and 7 by officer panels. A military judge alone decided the other 34\. Among contested cases, members heard 42 of 76 (55%).

The accused usually chooses whether a judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. In this group, members heard somewhat more cases than judges alone.

## Other Charges in the Same Case

Article 120b was the only charge in 27 of the 78 cases. The most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 21 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 18, Article 134 (the general article) in 17, Article 128b (domestic violence) in 7, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 6.

A full acquittal means not guilty of every one of those charges. A sentence covers all charges on which the accused was convicted.

## Rank and Installation

The accused were 33 junior enlisted soldiers, 38 NCOs, and 7 officers. That mix is similar to all contested Army cases in those years.

Fort Hood had the most cases (9). Fort Stewart had 7, Fort Bragg 6, Fort Bliss 6, and Joint Base Lewis-McChord 5\. Together these installations account for 42% of the 78 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.

## A Covered Offense Under the New System

Article 120b is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023\. Both rules depend on offense dates, which these records do not give. Trials from 2024 on therefore include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

## What the Records Do Not Show

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences only. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They also leave out cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment, administrative separation, or no action.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see [Article 120b on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com). Dates and sources for the law changes: [UCMJ change timeline](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/ucmj-change-timeline/).

### How We Counted

Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025: where the accused contested a charge under Article 120b (child sexual abuse) (78 cases), compared with all contested Army cases in those years.

Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in [Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/), data updated October 24, 2026\. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: [how this data was built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/how-the-military-trial-results-data-was-built/). Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.

## Related Analysis

- [Article 120b (Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-120b-courts-martial/) (hub)
- [By Offense](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/by-offense/) (hub)
- [Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-trend-2021-2025/)
- [How Much Confinement for an Article 120b Conviction in the Army?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-sent-2021-2025/)
- [Pleading Guilty to Article 120b in the Army: What Sentences Followed?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-plea-2021-2025/)
- [Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120b-acq-2017-2025/) (another service)
- [Fighting an Army Child Endangerment Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-119b-acq-2021-2025/)
- [Fighting an Army Communicating Threats Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-115-acq-2021-2025/)
- [Article 120b explained on the law firm's website](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/practice-areas/court-martial/article-120b/?ref=bodiesburied.com)
- [Search every case in Military Trial Results](https://www.bodiesburied.com/military-trial-results/) (members)

**Compare: federal court.** [Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement: Federal Sentences vs. Army Courts-Martial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-sex-offenses-vs-army/)

**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](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.