§2A3.1 Criminal Sexual Abuse: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 147 people were sentenced in federal court with §2A3.1, Criminal Sexual Abuse, as the primary guideline. 145 (99%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 168 months (14 years). 8 received a life sentence.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 147 people were sentenced in federal court with §2A3.1, Criminal Sexual Abuse, as the primary guideline. 145 (99%) went to prison, and the median prison term was 168 months (14 years). 8 received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 147 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016. 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.
Prison Terms for §2A3.1 in Fiscal Year 2016
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 147 people in this group. 145 of them (99%) received a prison term, and 1 (less than 1%) received probation only.
The median prison term was 168 months (14 years). A quarter of those sent to prison received 275 months or more, and a quarter received 84 months or less. 8 people received a life sentence.
For everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 under every guideline, there were 67,742 people, and the median prison term was 24 months. The §2A3.1 median was higher than that overall median. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
Plea Versus Trial
119 people (81%) pleaded guilty, and 28 were convicted after a trial. In the overall federal group, 97% pleaded guilty.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 144 months. After a trial it was 415 months, based on 28 people. The records show these medians but not why they differ. Cases that go to trial and cases that end in a plea can differ in many ways.
Among the guilty pleas, 97% had a written plea agreement and 3% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Mandatory Minimums and Supervised Release
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 30 of the 147 people (20%).
143 people (97%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 60 months, and 37 people (25%) received supervised release for life. A fine was ordered for 5 people (3%), and restitution for 42 (29%).
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
66 people (45%) were sentenced within the guideline range. 50 people (34%) were below the range at the government's request, and 25 people (17%) were below it without a government request. 6 people (4%) were above the range.
Across all federal cases in 2016, 49% were within the range. Within-range sentences were slightly less common under §2A3.1. For this guideline over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 41% were within the range.
Criminal History and the Wider Period
60% of the group was in the lowest criminal history category, category I, and 6% was in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, §2A3.1 covered 1,269 people. More than 99% went to prison, the median prison term was 168 months, and 83% pleaded guilty. The next year, 2017, had 133 people, a median prison term of 120 months, and 39% within the range. The table lists every year. A count of 147 people is a single year and does not show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 147 | 168 months | 81% |
| 2017 | 133 | 120 months | 88% |
| 2018 | 91 | 162 months | 87% |
| 2019 | 137 | 121 months | 87% |
| 2020 | 92 | 141 months | 77% |
| 2021 | 108 | 148 months | 89% |
| 2022 | 139 | 180 months | 80% |
| 2023 | 133 | 180 months | 78% |
| 2024 | 154 | 188 months | 80% |
| 2025 | 135 | 180 months | 84% |
What This Guideline Covers and What the Records Omit
The Commission files these cases under its Sexual Abuse offense type. This guideline is part of the approved pairing with Article 120 of the UCMJ, and the comparison posts cover that pairing.
Only people who were convicted and sentenced appear in the data. Acquittals and dismissals do not. Prison terms are terms imposed, not time served, and the records do not describe the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.1 (147), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
- §2A3.1 Criminal Sexual Abuse: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A3.1 Criminal Sexual Abuse: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- Fewer or More? Sexual Assault Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 120 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Fighting an Army Sexual Assault Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- When Army Accused Plead Guilty to Sexual Assault (court-martial data)
- Is Air Force Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120 Conviction in the Air Force? (court-martial data)
- When Air Force Accused Plead Guilty to Sexual Assault (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 120 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 120 Cases: What Happened at Trial (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Article 120 (Rape and Sexual Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 120 UCMJ Explained by a Former Special Victim Prosecutor (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.