> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Charged Under Article 120b in the Army - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-ncos/ - Published: 2026-10-28T08:18:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-03T01:46:12.000Z - Description: 61% of the 62 Army courts-martial of NCOs (E-5 to E-9) charged under Article 120b (child sexual abuse) from 2021 through 2025 were contested, compared with 40% in all Army Article 120b cases. 42% of decided contested cases ended in a full acquittal, compared with 32%. - 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/) › NCOs (E-5 to E-9) **Short answer:** 61% of the 62 Army courts-martial of NCOs (E-5 to E-9) charged under Article 120b (child sexual abuse) from 2021 through 2025 were contested, compared with 40% in all Army Article 120b cases. 42% of decided contested cases ended in a full acquittal, compared with 32%. For convictions, the median confinement was 7 years, compared with 3.9 years in all Army Article 120b cases. Based on 62 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026 ## NCOs Contested These Charges More Often Of the 62 accused, 38 contested at least one charge and 24 pleaded guilty. A case is contested when the accused enters a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 61%, compared with 40% in all Army Article 120b cases. 23 of the 24 guilty pleas are recorded with a plea agreement, and 1 has no entry. Army records say whether an agreement existed, not what it said. ## More Full Acquittals Than for the Offense Overall 42% of the 38 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal. That is higher than the 32% in all Army Article 120b cases. 12 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal: 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. Contested cases decided by members ended in a full acquittal 50% of the time (12 of 24). Contested cases decided by a military judge alone ended in a full acquittal 17% of the time (2 of 12). These 36 cases are the decided contested cases with the forum listed. The accused generally chooses the forum, so the cases each one heard are not alike. The records cannot show whether the forum affected the result. ## Who Decided Guilt? A military judge alone decided guilt in 35 of 60 cases with the forum listed (58%). Members heard 25: 23 enlisted panels and 2 officer panels. Among contested cases, members heard 24 of 36 (67%). Most judge-alone cases are guilty pleas, so the split mostly follows the number of contested cases. ## Confinement After a Conviction 46 cases ended with a conviction on at least one charge, and 44 of those sentences included confinement (96%). The median confinement was 7 years, compared with 3.9 years in all Army Article 120b cases. A quarter of the sentences were 14 years or longer. 1 was a life sentence. 61% of convictions in this group were sentenced to 5 years or more, compared with 44% in all Army Article 120b cases. Shorter sentences were less common. 37 of 46 convictions (80%) were sentenced to more than one year, compared with 76% in all Army Article 120b cases. 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 Army Article 120b cases | | ------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | ---------------------------------- | | No confinement | 2 | 4% | 3% | | Under 6 months | 2 | 4% | 6% | | 6 months to 1 year | 5 | 11% | 15% | | More than 1 year, under 5 years | 9 | 20% | 32% | | 5 years or more | 28 | 61% | 44% | ## Punitive Discharges 91% of convicted enlisted members here received a punitive discharge, compared with 95% in all Army Article 120b cases. 35 were dishonorable discharges and 7 were bad-conduct discharges. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. ## Court Level and Rank 61 of the 62 cases were general courts-martial (98%), compared with 99% in all Army Article 120b cases. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 63% of the accused in all Army Article 120b cases. Every accused in this post is an NCO. ## Timing, Locations, and Other Charges The 62 cases were tried from March 2021 through December 2025: 13 in 2021, 10 in 2022, 11 in 2023, 17 in 2024, and 11 in 2025\. Fort Hood, Fort Stewart, and Fort Bragg had 5 cases each. Fort Bliss had 4 and Fort Leonard Wood 3\. Together these installations account for 35% of the 62 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind. Article 120b was the only charge in 26 of 62 cases. The most common other charges were Article 128 (assault) in 13, Article 134 (general article) in 12, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 8, Article 80 (attempt) in 6, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 6. ## Rule Changes and What the Records Do Not 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 is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. Trials from 2024 on therefore include cases under both the old and new rules. The records also do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or cases handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. 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 that charged NCOs (E-5 to E-9) under Article 120b (62 cases), compared with every Army Article 120b case. 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) - [Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-courts-martial/) (hub) - [Army Child Sexual Abuse Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120b-junior-enlisted/) - [Air Force Child Sexual Abuse Cases Against Junior Enlisted (E-1 to E-4): Outcomes and Sentences](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120b-junior-enlisted/) - [NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Charged Under Article 120b in the Air Force](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120b-ncos/) - [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 Has Article 120b Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120b-trend-2016-2025/) - [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.