§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
The median prison term under guideline §2A3.2 in fiscal year 2025 was 46 months (3.8 years), the highest median for any fiscal year in the table below. The median for all federal cases that year was 24 months. A total of 30 people were sentenced under this guideline, which is a small group.
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A3.2 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Six › §2A3.2: FY2025
In brief: The median prison term under guideline §2A3.2 in fiscal year 2025 was 46 months (3.8 years), the highest median for any fiscal year in the table below. The median for all federal cases that year was 24 months. A total of 30 people were sentenced under this guideline, which is a small group.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 30 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025. 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.
A Median of 46 Months
Of the 30 people sentenced under §2A3.2 in fiscal year 2025, 29 (97%) received a prison term, and 1 (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 46 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 63 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less.
In fiscal year 2024, the median was 30 months. The 2025 figure was higher, and it comes from only 30 people.
How the Federal Total Compares
Across every guideline in fiscal year 2025, 66,662 people were sentenced. Their median prison term was 24 months, which was lower than the median under §2A3.2.
Guilty pleas were 98% of all federal cases and 93% of this group. Within-range sentences were 51% of all federal cases and 67% of this group.
Pleas, Trials, and Agreements
A guilty plea was entered by 28 of 30 people (93%), and 2 were convicted after a trial. Written plea agreements covered 86% of the guilty pleas, and 14% were straight pleas.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 46 months, and after a trial it was 54 months. The trial figure is based on 2 people, so it is not a general measure of trial sentences.
No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 30 people.
Within, Below, and Above the Range
The guideline range is calculated by the court before sentencing. Sentences were within it for 20 people (67%).
A sentence above the range went to 5 people (17%). Sentences below the range were given at the government's request to 2 people (7%) and without that request to 3 people (10%).
In fiscal year 2024, the within-range share for this guideline was 65%. Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025 together, it was 57%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Restitution
Supervised release was ordered for 29 people (97%). The median term was 108 months, and 3 people (10%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 1 person (3%), and restitution for 4 (13%). Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 93% of the group, and category VI, the highest, applied to 0%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
The Count and the Whole Period
The Commission counted 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 2025 ran from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 365 people were sentenced under this guideline. Of these, 98% went to prison, the median prison term was 36 months, and 97% pleaded guilty. The 2024 count was 40 people. 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% |
Pairing With Article 120b and Limits
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 120b of the UCMJ. The Commission's offense type for all 30 cases was Sexual Abuse. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, and the records do not show the facts of any case or the reasons for a sentence.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.2 (30), 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 2024 (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.