Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement: Sentences After a Guilty Plea vs. After Trial, Federal Court and Courts-Martial
Federal court showed a median prison term of 120 months after a guilty plea and 235 months after a trial, among 4,971 people sentenced. Courts-martial for sexual offenses against a child showed a median confinement of 36 months after a guilty plea and 48 months in contested cases that ended in convi
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In brief: Federal court showed a median prison term of 120 months after a guilty plea and 235 months after a trial, among 4,971 people sentenced. Courts-martial for sexual offenses against a child showed a median confinement of 36 months after a guilty plea and 48 months in contested cases that ended in conviction. The gap between the paths was wider in federal court.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 4,971 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, compared with court-martial results from this site's Military Trial Results data (updated November 2, 2026). Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
How Different Were Federal Plea and Trial Sentences?
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 4,971 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 for enticement, transportation, and travel offenses involving a minor, plus certain sexual abuse cases with a child-victim statute. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 120 months.
After a trial, the median was 235 months. That figure covers 632 people convicted at trial and sent to prison.
In the federal data, trial includes people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others.
What Did Courts-Martial Show?
The court-martial records include 354 convictions after a guilty plea and 164 convictions in contested cases, with trial dates from 2016 to 2025. Of 518 convictions with a plea recorded, 354 (68%) were guilty pleas.
The median confinement after a guilty plea was 36 months, using 350 cases with confinement. In contested cases that ended in conviction, it was 48 months, using 143 cases.
A court-martial is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, so this group includes mixed pleas.
Does the Gap Look the Same in Each Service?
It does not. The Army median in contested cases was 95.9 months, based on 47 cases, against 36 months after a guilty plea.
In the Air Force, the medians were 35.5 months after a plea and 36 months in contested cases. The Navy had 36 months and 37 months. The Marine Corps had 36 months for both, but only 5 contested cases.
The Army shows the widest gap between the paths among the services.
| Service | Median confinement after a guilty plea (cases) | Median confinement, contested cases (cases) |
|---|---|---|
| Army | 36 months (117) | 95.9 months (47) |
| Air Force | 35.5 months (45) | 36 months (61) |
| Navy | 36 months (78) | 37 months (30) |
| Marine Corps | 36 months (110) | 36 months (5) |
How Common Were Guilty Pleas?
In federal court, 87% of those sentenced pleaded guilty. The court-martial share was 68% among convictions with a plea recorded.
Since most convictions in both systems followed a plea, the plea median describes the typical case. The trial median describes a smaller group.
How Did Federal Sentences Compare With the Guideline Range?
The federal data also place each sentence against the advisory guideline range. 46% were within the range, 26% were below it at the government's request, 21% were below it without that request, and 7% were above it.
Court-martial records have no guideline range for this comparison.
What Cannot Be Concluded From the Gap?
A higher median after trial does not show that going to trial caused a longer sentence. Cases that go to trial may differ from cases that end in a plea, and the records do not capture those differences.
Plea agreements can also set or limit a sentence, and the data do not show those terms for each case.
The court-martial medians use only cases with confinement adjudged. The federal medians use only people sent to prison. Cases with no confinement or no prison term are outside both medians.
Court-martial sentences are as adjudged at trial, before any clemency or appeal. Federal prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served.
How We Counted
Courts-martial: convictions for sexual offenses against a child (Article 120b; federal child-victim sexual abuse, enticement, and travel offenses) with trial dates in 2016 to 2025, split by plea (354 guilty pleas, 164 contested). Medians use cases with confinement adjudged. Federal: 4,971 people sentenced under guideline §2G1.3 (enticement, transportation, and travel offenses involving a minor) plus §2A3.1 to §2A3.4 cases with a child-victim statute, fiscal years 2016 to 2025 (U.S. Sentencing Commission).
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
Different cases reach each system. Federal prosecutors bring a narrow set of cases. In fiscal year 2024, immigration and drug trafficking cases were 59% of everyone sentenced in federal court (36,664 of 61,678). Many crimes that the military prosecutes, such as most assaults, most sexual assaults between adults, and drug use, are usually state crimes for civilians and reach federal court only in special situations, such as on federal land or in Indian Country. A federal case and a court-martial for the same crime can involve different kinds of facts.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
Offense categories do not line up exactly. Each comparison uses a federal offense group chosen to match the military article as closely as possible (see the crosswalk). Some matches are close; others are partial. The post says which federal guideline or statute was used and why it is not an exact match.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Military confinement credit and parole. For military sentences adjudged after 2004, good conduct time is 5 days for each month of confinement, about 16%. Military prisoners can also earn up to 8 more days a month for work and programs and up to 2 days a month for special acts, with a limit of 15 days a month in total. Military prisoners can be considered for parole by their service's clemency and parole board. The military numbers in this post are the confinement adjudged at trial, not the time served.
Military sentences include punishments federal sentences do not. A court-martial sentence can include a punitive discharge (bad-conduct discharge, dishonorable discharge, or dismissal for officers), reduction in rank, and forfeiture of pay. These have no federal counterpart. A comparison of months of confinement leaves them out. A short confinement term combined with a dishonorable discharge is a heavier sentence than the months alone show.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Plea agreements work differently. In federal court, most plea agreements do not bind the judge on the sentence. Since 2019, a military plea agreement can set a minimum and maximum sentence that the military judge must follow if the judge accepts the agreement. The federal numbers count anyone who pleaded guilty, with or without a written agreement.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement: Federal Cases vs. Article 120b Courts-Martial (overview)
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement Sentences Since the 2023 Military Sentencing Reform: What the Data Shows So Far
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Army Courts-Martial
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement Charges: How Often Federal Trials and Courts-Martial End in Acquittal
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Marine Corps Courts-Martial
- Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement Charges: Federal Trial Acquittals vs. Contested Navy Courts-Martial
- Guilty Pleas in Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement Cases: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials? (related comparison)
- Guilty Pleas in Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, Year by Year (related comparison)
- Child Pornography Sentences: Federal Court vs. Courts-Martial, 2016–2025 (related comparison)
- Federal Law Has No Crime of Drug Use: How Article 112a Cases Compare (related comparison)
- Drug Distribution and Importation: Federal vs. Court-Martial Sentences, 2016–2025 (related comparison)
- Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 Courts-Martial (related comparison)
- Theft and Fraud by Dollar Loss: Federal Sentences vs. Article 121 Courts-Martial (related comparison)
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120b Conviction in the Army? (court-martial data)
- How Often Are Contested Army Article 120b Cases Acquitted? (court-martial data)
- Pleading Guilty to Article 120b in the Army: What Sentences Followed? (court-martial data)
- How Has Article 120b Changed in Air Force Courts-Martial Since 2016? (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120b Conviction in the Air Force? (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Air Force Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Conviction? (court-martial data)
- Fighting a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Article 120b (Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 120b UCMJ: Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child (law firm reference page)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
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.