What Happens to Army NCOs (E-5 to E-9) Facing Indecent Recording And Exposure Charges?

Trends › By Offense › Article 120c › NCOs (E-5 to E-9)

Based on 21 cases · 2021–2025 · Army records · data updated October 24, 2026

Full and Partial Acquittals

13 contested cases reached a verdict. 6 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge (46%). Another 6 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge or specification, but guilty of another (46%).

The full-acquittal rate of 46% is higher than the 42% in all Army Article 120c cases. Army results list findings charge by charge, so partial acquittals are common in Army records.

Pleas

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. 13 NCOs did so and 8 pleaded guilty. The contested share of 62% compares with 43% in all Army Article 120c cases.

Confinement for the 15 Convictions

Of 15 convictions, 14 carried confinement. The median was 11 months, shorter than the 1 year in all Army Article 120c cases. A quarter of the sentences with confinement were 2.3 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence.

These are adjudged sentences for every charge in the case, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Every case here also charged another article, so the sentences reflect more than Article 120c.

Charges Filed With Article 120c

All 21 cases charged at least one other article. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 9 and Article 80 (attempt) in 8. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 5, Article 92 (orders violation) in 4, and Article 134 (general article) in 3.

Punitive Discharges

12 of the 15 convicted NCOs received a punitive discharge: 8 bad-conduct discharges and 4 dishonorable discharges. That is 80%, lower than the 88% in all Army Article 120c cases. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Who Decided Guilt?

A military judge alone decided 15 cases. Enlisted panels decided 5, and officer panels decided none. Members heard 25% of the cases, compared with 22% in all Army Article 120c cases. Among contested cases, members heard 5 of 12 (42%).

Rank, Court Level, and Location

All of the accused were NCOs. In all Army Article 120c cases, junior enlisted soldiers (E-1 to E-4) made up 53%. 18 of the 21 cases were general courts-martial (86%), about the same as the 87% in all Army Article 120c cases.

Fort Hood had 4 cases. Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Fort Knox, and Fort Stewart had 3 each, and Wheeler Army Airfield had 1. Together these account for 67% of the 21 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

The trials ran from January 2021 to November 2025: 5 in 2021, 5 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 3 in 2025.

Law Changes and Limits

Article 120c is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute it, and new sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023. The records list trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

The records do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120c on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: 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.