§2A3.2 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2024
In fiscal year 2024, 40 people were sentenced under guideline §2A3.2, and 22% of the guilty pleas were straight pleas with no written plea agreement. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years), about the same as the 30-month median for all federal cases that year. Of the 40, 37 (93%) pleaded g
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A3.2 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Six › §2A3.2: FY2024
In brief: In fiscal year 2024, 40 people were sentenced under guideline §2A3.2, and 22% of the guilty pleas were straight pleas with no written plea agreement. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years), about the same as the 30-month median for all federal cases that year. Of the 40, 37 (93%) pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 40 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.
How Many Guilty Pleas Had Written Agreements?
Of the 40 people, 37 (93%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Among the guilty pleas, 76% had a written plea agreement, and 22% were straight pleas with no agreement.
A straight plea means the person pleaded guilty without a written agreement with the government. The records cannot show why a person pleaded without an agreement.
A Median Equal to the Federal Median
A prison term went to 39 of the 40 people (98%). The median prison term was 30 months, and a quarter received 49.5 months or more while a quarter received 19 months or less.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2024, 61,678 people were sentenced, and their median prison term was also 30 months. That group covers many offense types, so the match does not mean the cases were alike.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 40 people.
Pleas Compared With Trials
After a guilty plea, the median prison term was 29 months. After a trial, it was 135 months, based on 3 people sent to prison.
The trial figure comes from 3 people, so it cannot show how trial sentences compare with plea sentences in general.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Within the guideline range: 26 people (65%). Below the range at the government's request: 7 people (18%). Below the range without that request: 4 people (10%). Above the range: 3 people (8%).
The within-range share was 49% in fiscal year 2023 and 67% in fiscal year 2025. For all federal cases in fiscal year 2024, it was 46%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and History
Supervised release was ordered for all 40 people (100%), with a median term of 60 months. Supervised release for life went to 3 people (8%).
A fine was ordered for 1 person (3%), and restitution for 1 (3%). Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 88% of the group, and category VI, the highest, applied to 0%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
What the Count Covers
The count is of people whose primary guideline was §2A3.2, "Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts." Fiscal year 2024 ran from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
All 40 cases fall in the Commission's Sexual Abuse offense type. Only convicted and sentenced people are included, so acquittals and dismissals are not in the data.
Other Fiscal Years
Fiscal year 2023 had 43 people under this guideline and a median of 35 months. Fiscal year 2025 had 30 people and a median of 46 months.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 365 people were sentenced under §2A3.2. Of these, 98% went to prison, the median prison term was 36 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The table lists each fiscal year.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 33 | 31.5 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 28 | 24 months | 96% |
| 2018 | 39 | 30 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 40 | 36.5 months | 98% |
| 2020 | 28 | 37 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 39 | 36 months | 100% |
| 2022 | 45 | 41 months | 96% |
| 2023 | 43 | 35 months | 95% |
| 2024 | 40 | 30 months | 93% |
| 2025 | 30 | 46 months | 93% |
Article 120b and Limits
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 120b of the UCMJ. A single year of 40 people is not a trend, and the records do not give the facts of any case.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2024 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.2 (40), 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.
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)
- §2A3.2 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A3.2 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2023 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A3.2 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts: 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? 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.