Is Army Kidnapping Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 125, 2021–2025
Army records from 2021–2025 hold 13 courts-martial that charged Article 125 (kidnapping). 77% of them were contested, compared with 30% in the rest of the Army.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 4 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 125 › Army
Short answer: Army records from 2021–2025 hold 13 courts-martial that charged Article 125 (kidnapping). 77% of them were contested, compared with 30% in the rest of the Army. 3 of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal (30%), compared with 38% for all Army cases in those years.
Most of These Cases Were Contested
10 of the 13 accused contested at least one charge, and 3 pleaded guilty. A contested case is one with a not-guilty or mixed plea. The contested share was 77%. Across the rest of the Army, it was 30%.
How the Contested Cases Ended
Full acquittals came in 3 of the 10 contested cases that reached a verdict (30%). For all Army cases in those years, the full acquittal rate was 38%.
Another 5 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal. 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 appear often in Army records.
Members heard 6 of the 10 contested cases (60%). Across all 13 cases, a military judge alone decided guilt in 7 (54%) and members heard 6, all with enlisted panels.
Sentences After a Conviction
80% of the 10 convictions included confinement. Half of those terms were 9 months or less. The median for the Army as a whole was 6 months. A quarter of the terms were 20 years or longer.
A punitive discharge followed 70% of enlisted convictions: 4 dishonorable discharges and 3 bad-conduct discharges. The Army-wide share was 73%.
These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case, and every case here had other charges.
Sexual Assault Was the Most Common Other Charge
None of the 13 cases charged Article 125 by itself. Article 120 (sexual assault) appeared in 7 cases and Article 128b (domestic violence) in 4. Article 115 (communicating threats) and Article 128 (assault) each appeared in 3, and Article 134 (general article) in 2.
Mostly General Courts-Martial
11 of the 13 cases were general courts-martial and 2 were special courts-martial. The general court-martial share, 85%, is higher than the 73% for all Army cases in those years.
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) were 69% of the accused and NCOs were 31%. No officers appear. Army-wide, junior enlisted members were 55%.
Cases by Year
The records run from June 2021 to February 2025: 1 case in 2021, 3 in 2022, 4 in 2023, 4 in 2024, and 1 in 2025. Convictions including Article 125 peaked at 3 in 2023.
The article was part of 1 of 891 Army convictions in 2021–2022 (0%) and 3 of 816 in 2024–2025 (0%), about the same share.
| Year | Convictions incl. Art. 125 | All convictions with offenses listed | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 0 | 467 | 0% |
| 2022 | 1 | 424 | 0% |
| 2023 | 3 | 408 | 1% |
| 2024 | 2 | 428 | 0% |
| 2025 | 1 | 388 | 0% |
Rules and Limits
Article 125 is a covered offense, so since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute it. The records give trial dates, not offense dates, so trials from 2024 on mix cases under old and new rules. The records also do not describe the evidence or the plea terms.
Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Army courts-martial tried 2021–2025 that charged Article 125 (13 cases). The trend line uses convictions whose records list the offenses found, by trial year.
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
- Army Courts-Martial: Data and Trends (hub)
- By Offense (hub)
- Army Article 107 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 112a Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 115 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 119b Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 121 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 128 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Army Article 133 Cases by the Numbers, 2021–2025
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Kidnapping: 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.