§2A3.1 Criminal Sexual Abuse: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
Fiscal year 2024 had the highest median prison term in the yearly table for §2A3.1, Criminal Sexual Abuse: 188 months (15.7 years) for 154 people sentenced. 14 people received a life sentence, and 61 (40%) received supervised release for life.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A3.1 Criminal Sexual Abuse › §2A3.1: FY2024
In brief: Fiscal year 2024 had the highest median prison term in the yearly table for §2A3.1, Criminal Sexual Abuse: 188 months (15.7 years) for 154 people sentenced. 14 people received a life sentence, and 61 (40%) received supervised release for life.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 154 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024. 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.
The Highest Yearly Median in the Table
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 154 people sentenced in fiscal year 2024 whose primary guideline was §2A3.1. 153 of them (more than 99%) received a prison term, and 1 (less than 1%) received probation only.
The median prison term was 188 months (15.7 years). The table below shows no higher yearly median from fiscal year 2016 to fiscal year 2025. The median for all years combined was 168 months, and the median for everyone sentenced in federal court in 2024 under every guideline was 30 months.
A quarter of those sent to prison received 360 months or more, and a quarter received 120 months or less. 14 people received a life sentence. The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
Supervised Release for Life
152 people (99%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 60 months. 61 people (40%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 5 people (3%), and restitution for 36 (23%). A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 45 of the 152 people with that information recorded (30%).
Guilty Pleas and Trials
123 people (80%) pleaded guilty, and 31 were convicted after a trial. For all federal cases in 2024, 97% pleaded guilty.
The median prison term was 169 months after a guilty plea and 470 months after a trial, based on 31 people. Among the guilty pleas, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
69 people (45%) were within the guideline range. 49 people (32%) were below it at the government's request, and 26 people (17%) were below it without a government request. 10 people (6%) were above the range.
In all federal cases that year, 46% were within the range. The §2A3.1 share of 45% was about the same.
Years Before and After
In fiscal year 2023, 133 people were sentenced under this guideline, the median prison term was 180 months, and 35% were within the range. In fiscal year 2025, 135 people were sentenced, the median was 180 months, and 41% were within the range.
Taking fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, the guideline covered 1,269 people, with more than 99% in prison, 83% guilty pleas, and 41% within the range. A single year, even one with the highest median, is not 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% |
Criminal History, Crosswalk, and Limits
In the 2024 group, 68% fell in the lowest criminal history category (category I) and 5% in the highest (category VI). Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Article 120 of the UCMJ is the court-martial article paired with this guideline in the approved crosswalk, and separate comparison posts take up that pairing. The Commission's offense type for these cases is Sexual Abuse. Nobody who was acquitted or whose case was dismissed appears in the Commission's files. Each prison term is the sentence imposed, not the time served.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.1 (154), 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 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A3.1 Criminal Sexual Abuse: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2025 (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.