§2A3.3 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Ward or Attempt to Commit Such Acts: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016
In fiscal year 2016, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under guideline §2A3.3. The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles it "Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Ward or Attempt to Commit Such Acts; Criminal Sexual Abuse of an Individual in Federal Custody." 10 of the 12 (83%) were sent to prison, with
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › §2A3.3 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Ward or Attempt to Commit › §2A3.3: FY2016
In brief: In fiscal year 2016, 12 people were sentenced in federal court under guideline §2A3.3. The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles it "Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Ward or Attempt to Commit Such Acts; Criminal Sexual Abuse of an Individual in Federal Custody." 10 of the 12 (83%) were sent to prison, with a median term of 17 months, and all 12 pleaded guilty.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 12 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 for 10 of 12
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 12 people in fiscal year 2016 whose primary guideline was §2A3.3. 10 (83%) received a prison term, and 2 (17%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 17 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 5.2 months or less. The median for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline is 15 months.
For all years, 82% of the 61 people were sent to prison, which is about the same as the 83% in fiscal year 2016.
Every Case Ended in a Guilty Plea
12 of the 12 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none were convicted after a trial. 83% of the pleas had a written plea agreement, and 17% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The all-years plea rate under this guideline is 92%. The rate for all guidelines in fiscal year 2016 was 97%. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 11 people with that information recorded.
Within the Guideline Range for 8 People
8 sentences (67%) were within the guideline range. 3 (25%) were below the range without a government request, and 1 (8%) was above the range. None were below the range at the government's request.
The within-range share was higher than the 43% for all years under this guideline. It was also higher than the 49% for all guidelines in fiscal year 2016.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
10 people (83%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 2 people (17%), and no restitution was ordered.
All 12 people (100%) were in the lowest criminal history category, Category I. 0% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Fiscal Year 2016 Compared With Other Years
The yearly table shows 2 to 12 people per year under this guideline. Fiscal year 2016 has the largest group in the table. Medians range from 12 months to 33 months.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2016, 67,742 people were sentenced, and the median prison term was 24 months. The §2A3.3 median was lower. The Commission files these cases under the offense type Sexual Abuse, and the fiscal year ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 12 | 17 months | 100% |
| 2017 | 6 | 14.5 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2018 | 6 | 13 months | 6 of 6 |
| 2019 | 6 | 24 months | 5 of 6 |
| 2020 | 2 | 12 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2021 | 2 | 13.5 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 6 | 33 months | 5 of 6 |
| 2023 | 3 | 15 months | 1 of 3 |
| 2024 | 7 | 15 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2025 | 11 | 12.5 months | 100% |
What Cannot Be Concluded
There is no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline in the approved crosswalk, so this post reports the federal numbers on their own.
The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. It does not describe individual cases, and one year with 12 people does not show a trend.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.3 (12), 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)
- §2A3.3 Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Ward or Attempt to Commit Such Acts: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- 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.