How Bremerton, Washington Handled Sexual Assault Cases (Article 120), 2019–2023

Trends › By Installation › Bremerton, Washington › Article 120, 2019–2023

Based on 17 cases · 2019–2023 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Most Cases Went to a Verdict

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, either a full not-guilty plea or a mixed plea. At Bremerton, 13 of the 16 cases with a plea listed were contested and 3 were guilty pleas. The contested share was 81%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases from 2019 to 2023, it was 65%.

One of the 17 records does not list a plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave out the plea, so the plea counts here use only the records that include one.

How the Contested Cases Ended

Of the 13 contested cases with a verdict, 7 ended in a full acquittal, meaning the accused was found not guilty of every charge. That is a rate of 54%. The rate across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases in the same years was 57%, so the rates are about the same.

No contested case at Bremerton ended in a partial acquittal. A partial acquittal is a finding of not guilty on at least one charge or specification and guilty on another. Each contested case here ended either in a full acquittal or in a conviction on every charge that went to a verdict.

Confinement After a Conviction

The records list 10 convictions, and 8 of those sentences included confinement. The median confinement was 1.2 years. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases in 2019–2023, the median was 1.5 years, so the Bremerton median was lower.

Among the sentences with confinement, a quarter were 3.3 years or longer. These figures are adjudged sentences, as announced at trial and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each sentence covers every charge in the case, not only the Article 120 charge.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

Article 128 (assault) was the charge most often listed with Article 120 at Bremerton, in 11 of the 17 cases. Article 107 (false official statement), Article 120b (child sexual abuse), Article 120c (indecent recording and exposure), and Article 134 (general article) each appeared in 3.

Because a sentence covers all of these charges together, the confinement figures above cannot be assigned to the Article 120 charge alone.

Rank of the Accused and Court Level

Of the 17 accused, 6 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4), 9 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9), and 2 were officers or warrant officers. That group was more senior than in Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases overall, where 60% of the accused were junior enlisted.

Almost all of these cases were tried at a general court-martial: 16 general and 1 special. The general court-martial share was 94%, compared with 87% service-wide. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge or dismissal. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

When the Cases Were Tried

The trials ran from February 2019 through May 2023. There were 3 in 2019, 2 in 2020, 6 in 2021, 4 in 2022, and 2 in 2023. These 17 cases were 11% of the 153 courts-martial at Bremerton, Washington in 2019–2023.

Article 120 was rewritten in 2012 and amended again for offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Each case is charged under the version in force when the offense happened. Since the records give trial dates and not offense dates, these 17 cases may include charges under both versions.

What the Records Leave Out

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not describe the evidence or any plea terms. They also do not include allegations handled by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation, or allegations that never reached trial. This page does not include discharge figures for these cases.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 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.