Article 120b With Article 80 in the Army: What the Records Show
Between 2021 and 2026, 24 Army courts-martial charged child sexual abuse under Article 120b together with an attempt under Article 80. All 23 convictions included confinement, with a median of 6 years, compared with 4.1 years across all Army Article 120b cases.
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Trends › By Offense › Article 120b › Army, with Article 80
Short answer: Between 2021 and 2026, 24 Army courts-martial charged child sexual abuse under Article 120b together with an attempt under Article 80. All 23 convictions included confinement, with a median of 6 years, compared with 4.1 years across all Army Article 120b cases. Every convicted enlisted member received a punitive discharge.
A Median of 6 Years
Confinement was part of 100% of the 23 convictions. The median confinement was 6 years. In all Army Article 120b cases from 2021 to 2026, the median was 4.1 years. A quarter of the terms in this group were 12 years or longer.
These numbers are adjudged sentences. They reflect the sentence announced at trial and come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence covers every charge in the case, including the attempt charge and any others.
More Terms of 5 Years or More
Of the 23 convictions, 13 (57%) carried 5 years or more of confinement. Across all Army Article 120b cases, that band made up 45%. Sentences longer than 1 year came in 19 of 23 convictions (83%), compared with 78%.
The middle bands were close to the wider group. Terms of more than 1 year but under 5 years were 26%, compared with 32%, and terms of 6 months to 1 year were 13%, compared with 14%. Only 1 conviction (4%) carried less than 6 months. A special court-martial is capped at one year of confinement, so any longer term came from a general court-martial.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, Army-wide Article 120b cases |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 0 | 0% | 3% |
| Under 6 months | 1 | 4% | 6% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 3 | 13% | 14% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 6 | 26% | 32% |
| 5 years or more | 13 | 57% | 45% |
Discharges and Dismissals
A punitive discharge followed 100% of enlisted convictions here: 19 dishonorable discharges and 2 bad-conduct discharges. In all Army Article 120b cases, the share was 96%. Only a general court-martial can impose a dishonorable discharge.
The records also show 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and both were dismissed. A dismissal is the officer equivalent of a punitive discharge. For enlisted members, a sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.
Most Accused Pleaded Guilty
The plea is listed in 23 of the 24 records. Of those, 17 accused pleaded guilty and 6 contested at least one charge. The contested share, 26%, is lower than the 37% in all Army Article 120b cases.
15 of the 17 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 2 have no entry. The records say whether an agreement existed, not what its terms were. A contested case is one where the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, including a mixed plea.
Who Decided Guilt
A military judge alone heard 20 cases. Members heard 3: 2 enlisted panels and 1 officer panel. Members heard 13% of these cases, compared with 22% in all Army Article 120b cases.
In most cases the accused chooses whether a military judge alone or a panel of members decides guilt. Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the low members share follows the high guilty-plea count.
No Case Charged Article 120b Alone
None of the 24 cases charged Article 120b by itself, since each also charged Article 80. In the rest of the Army, 87 of 222 Article 120b cases had no other charge.
Other articles in these cases included Article 134 (general article) in 8, Article 131b (obstruction) in 3, Article 128 (assault) in 3, and Article 82 (solicitation) in 2. A case counts under every article it included.
Because one sentence covers all charges together, the records cannot show how much of any term related to the attempt charge and how much to the other charges.
Rank, Years, and Installations
By rank, 15 accused were junior enlisted members, 7 were NCOs, and 2 were officers. This mix is similar to all Army Article 120b cases.
The 24 cases were tried from February 2021 through September 2026: 6 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 1 in 2024, 4 in 2025, and 4 in 2026, a partial year. Fort Hood had 6 cases and Fort Stewart had 3. Fort Wainwright, Fort Campbell, and Wheeler Army Airfield had 2 each. These five installations account for 62% of the cases, and larger installations try more cases of every kind.
What the Data Cannot Show
Article 120b is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. These records give trial dates, not offense dates, so it is not possible to tell which trials from 2024 on fell under which rules.
The records also leave out the evidence, the plea terms, and anything handled outside a court-martial. Army records in this data are sparse before 2021.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial with trial dates in 2021–2026 that charged both Article 120b and Article 80 (24 cases), compared with all 222 Army Article 120b cases in those years.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 120b (Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Article 80 (Attempts): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- Army Cases Charging Both Article 120b and Article 128
- Army Cases Charging Both Article 120b and Article 128b
- Army Courts-Martial With Article 120b and Article 134, 2021–2026
- Army Courts-Martial With Article 120b and Article 92, 2021–2025
- Article 120b With Article 131b in the Army: What the Records Show
- Article 120b With Article 82 in the Army: What the Records Show
- Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial With Article 120b and Article 134, 2021–2026
- Article 120b explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement: 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.