Communicating Threats Plus Sexual Assault: Courts-Martial Charging Articles 115 and 120

Trends › By Offense › Article 115 › With Article 120

Based on 27 cases · 2021–2026 · Army, Navy, and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Confinement Was Longer Than in Other Article 115 Cases

Confinement was part of 91% of the 23 convictions. The median term was 1.7 years. Across all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115, the median was 6 months.

Long terms were common. Among the sentences that included confinement, a quarter were 5 years or longer. Sentences of more than one year appeared in 14 of 23 convictions (61%), compared with 28% for Article 115 cases overall.

The table below sorts each conviction by the confinement adjudged. The share of sentences of 5 years or more was 30% here and 7% in the comparison group. These are adjudged sentences: the figures come before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal, and each sentence covers every charge in the case, not the Article 115 count alone.

Pleas: Few Guilty Pleas

A case counts as contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a full not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. In this group, 21 cases were contested and 6 ended in a guilty plea.

That contested share of 78% is higher than the 37% seen across all Article 115 cases in these services. In most of these cases, then, guilt on at least one charge was decided at trial rather than by plea.

How Contested Cases Ended

Of the 21 contested cases that reached a verdict, 4 ended in a full acquittal, meaning not guilty of every charge. That is a full-acquittal rate of 19%, lower than the 25% for all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115.

Another 15 contested cases ended in a partial acquittal. In a partial acquittal, the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. A partial acquittal is still a conviction and still leads to a sentence.

Punitive Discharges

A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge for enlisted members; for officers, the equivalent is a dismissal. Of 22 convicted enlisted members, 19 received a punitive discharge: 8 bad-conduct discharges and 11 dishonorable discharges.

Across all Article 115 cases in these services, the punitive discharge share was 67%. The group also includes 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was dismissed. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

All 27 cases charged at least one article besides Article 115, since Article 120 appears in each of them by definition. Article 128 (assault) was the next most common charge, in 17 cases.

Article 128b (domestic violence) appeared in 10 cases, Article 134 (general article) in 7, and Article 131b (obstruction) in 6. The sentence in each case covers this full set of charges.

Rank of the Accused and Court Level

Among the accused, 18 were junior enlisted (E-1 to E-4), 8 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 1 was an officer or warrant officer. This group is more junior than all Army, Navy, and Marine Corps cases charging Article 115, where 62% were junior enlisted.

General courts-martial heard 24 of the 27 cases (89%), compared with 55% for Article 115 cases overall. 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.

Cases by Year and Installation

The 27 cases were tried from January 2021 through March 2026. The count by year was 2021: 12, 2022: 5, 2023: 3, 2024: 4, 2025: 1, and 2026: 2. The 2026 figure covers part of the year only.

Fort Bragg had the most of these cases, with 7. Fort Sill, Camp Humphreys, Fort Campbell, and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay had 2 each. These five installations account for 56% of the 27 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind, so a higher count does not by itself mean an installation has more of this conduct.

Law Changes and Limits of the Records

Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute covered offenses, a list that includes sexual assault and domestic violence. When every guilty finding in a case is for an offense after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence under new sentencing parameters. Both rules depend on the offense date, and the records give only trial dates, so trials from 2024 on include cases under both the old and new rules.

These records cover courts-martial only. They do not include matters handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. They also do not show the evidence, the terms of any plea agreement, or the reasons behind any verdict.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 115 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 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.